Gaining Legitimacy by Telling Stories: The Power of Narratives in Legitimizing Mergers and Acquisitions (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION In addition to the financial and economic aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&As), there is also a "human side" (Buono and Bowditch, 2003; Marks, 1982) to these activities. In particular, one determinant of M&A success is the degree to which employees of merging organizations "buy in" to both the integration process and the newly formed organization (Gole and Morris, 2007). More specifically, if employees are not committed to the integration of the merging organizations (Mottola et al., 1997), or do not identify with the merged organization (Van Knippenberg et al., 2002), then this will have a deleterious impact on the overall success or failure of a merger or acquisition. Yet both identification and commitment are, in part, dependent on employees' perception that the actions of their organization are desirable, proper, and appropriate (Tyler, 1997). Hence, employees' support will be a function of the perceived legitimacy of a merger or acquisition (Suchman, 1995). It is therefore critical to understand the factors that influence, and help to establish, the legitimacy employees grant to a merger or acquisition.