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The case study in this chapter describes the planning and implementation of a single service desk or “one desk” model, merging the circulation and reference desks at a large academic library. The transition to a single service desk model was proposed as a way to utilize library staff more efficiently and effectively. The project included a literature review, interviews with libraries that had recently moved to a one-desk model, and a recommendation that included a method as well as timeline for implementation. As a result of the recommendation, three committees were formed to lead the transition, each with representation from both the circulation and reference departments. One committee oversaw the physical implementation and assessment, while the second committee created training program for all staff teaching core competencies for both reference and circulation. The third committee recruited student peer research leaders as part of a pilot program for student assistants. Through the implementation process, the chairs of the three committees concluded that implementing a single service desk involved much more than just moving furniture and relocating equipment. Combining two departments with distinct organizational cultures was the key to making the transition successful. The details of the implementation can be used as a model for other libraries of any type contemplating a similar transition.

Economists should not, according to Jones, neglect the legal, cultural, and social impediments that affect the dissemination of full-blown market behavior outside Western society. Custom, traditions, beliefs, and values combine with economic choice to produce existing culture. But, within these interactions, the economic choices of self-interested individuals and their formal institutions hold the upper hand. Jones rejects the hypothesis of “cultural nullity,” according to which culture depends entirely on the economy. Jones also rejects the alternative “cultural relativist” hypothesis, where each culture maximizes its own values, and the free market and capitalism are themselves cultural artifacts. For Jones, the cultural context within which capitalism develops is relevant only as a second-order factor to explain the pace and uneven nature of the global diffusion of wealth-maximizing, self-interested, and competitive behavior.

The merged pension plan should reflect the merged firm's culture.

While mergers may be a good way to grow rapidly, can one sustain growth and performance for long periods? The answer lies in how well one integrates the business after the merger.

Different forms of inter-organisational encounters, including joint ventures, alliances, mergers and acquisitions, have over the last decades become fashionable and much-sought means of globalisation. A continuous concern shared by managers involved in these different forms of inter-organisational encounters is the challenge of making them work in practice – their successful implementation and management. The cultural dimensions of these different kinds of inter-organisational encounters, particularly in cross-border contexts, have been deplored as being particularly difficult. This paper builds on prior research and aims to understand how the cultural dimensions of inter-organisational encounters have been approached by researchers on mergers and acquisitions on the one hand and researchers on alliances and joint ventures on the other hand. Based on a comparative literature review, the findings suggest that the two fields, despite their valuable contributions and the similarities in the phenomena they study, have remained surprisingly isolated from one another and would offer opportunities for cross-fertilisation. Through its theoretical contribution, the paper intends to offer insights to researchers in both streams of research.

This chapter examines a case study of inter-institutional merger in higher education, and explores the complex challenges institutional leaders may face in pursuing a merger process within a university setting where centuries-old tradition frames the context within which new innovations occur. Using the conceptual lens of organizational ambidexterity, findings uncover seven distinct phases of this merger process and propose a pre-merger Affiliation period as a strategy for establishing trust and mutual respect, aligning institutional cultures, and achieving balance between innovation and preservation in order to achieve full merged status. The chapter concludes with implications for theory and opportunities for practice.

This paper aims to provide some insights for the use of humor when addressing intercultural issues after an international merger.

The author focuses on a few key articles that deal with intercultural issues in international contexts, including an ethnographic case study of a merging firm.

Although humor in different cultures can be difficult to explicate and define, the author find that humor can be used both positively and negatively among employees, and also among consumers, after international mergers.

When considering international mergers, management literature often describes various approaches that firms may take toward bridging differences in employee relations and organizational cultures. However, information on the use of humor in post-merger workplaces, at a more micro level, is not easily found. This paper briefly summarizes how humor – as a collective tool – might be used by employees and managers in daily office encounters to ease post-merger office tensions, as well as by consumers who react to mergers online.

In this second cover story the author explores the pitfalls of not understanding the difference in corporate culture between merging parties. Highlights a number of examples of failure, and this compliments our first story perfectly.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are becoming a strategy of choice for organizations attempting to maintain a competitive advantage. Corporations spend billions of dollars annually in pursuit of this strategy; the success rate, however, is less than commendable. Research offers a number of potential determinants for this success rate. Receiving increased attention and research, organizational culture is one factor identified as a potential catalyst to M&A success. This article reviews related literature to identify some underlying reasons why organizational culture is an important factor in regard to the success rate of M&As. Specific emphasis is placed on cultural implications to consider prior to the merger or acquisition (event) and implications to consider subsequent to the event. Strategic alternatives suggested by researchers in organizational change, organizational strategy, and organizational development/ management research are also synthesized in an attempt to offer a comprehensive perspective on ways that organizations might improve the success rate of M&As.

When organizations with disparate cultures are merged, the culture of the acquired organization often represents a counterculture for the acquiring firm. Scholars and consultants frequently recommend avoiding integration of an acquired company if it has a sharply different culture. This paper presents a case study of a recent hostile takeover that disproves the conventional wisdom and shows that careful implementation processes enable the company, not only to overcome post‐merger integration barriers due to culture clash, but also to maximize strategic benefits from those cultural differences. It shows that integration can be achieved through a process in which only some specific cultural dimensions are integrated while others are preserved.