Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T03:26:08.756Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 7 - Identification Change in Chinese Acquisitions in Europe

The Social Identity Approach

from Part III - Change in Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2023

Shaul Oreg
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Alexandra Michel
Affiliation:
Universität Heidelberg
Rune Todnem By
Affiliation:
Universitet i Stavanger, Norway
Get access

Summary

Organizational identification might become weaker when confronted with organizational changes, such as mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Identification change in M&As has received significant attention from scholars, but the extant theoretical evidence might not apply to employees involved in Chinese M&As. Indeed, cultural characteristics (e.g., dialectical thinking, collectivism, power distance) might make Chinese employees more tolerant of contradictions and ambivalence than employees in the Western hemisphere. To address this gap, we will refer to the social identity theory and the extant knowledge on identification change in cross-border M&As. We will present a framework of organizational identification change for Chinese employees after acquisition together with factors that contribute to the success of M&As. We illustrate it with the case of a Chinese acquisition in Europe: ChinaCorp and EuroMall. We theorize on the role of identity leadership wherein a leader’s behavior has a particularly strong impact on identification processes in high power distance and collectivist cultures. We will show how acts of identity leadership matter for the transfer from pre-merger to post-merger identification in the case of Chinese acquirers.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Psychology of Organizational Change
New Insights on the Antecedents and Consequences of Individuals' Responses to Change
, pp. 148 - 169
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albert, S., & Whetten, D. A. (1985). Organizational identity. Research in Organizational Behavior, 7, 263295.Google Scholar
Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 2039.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barkema, H. G., Chen, X.-P., George, G., Luo, Y., & Tsui, A. S. (2015). West meets East: New concepts and theories. Academy of Management Journal, 58(2), 460479.Google Scholar
Buckley, P. J., Clegg, J., & Tan, H. (2006). Cultural awareness in knowledge transfer to China: The role of guanxi and mianzi. Journal of World Business, 41(3), 275288.Google Scholar
Buckley, P. J., Clegg, L. J., Voss, H., Cross, A. R., Liu, X., & Zheng, P. (2018). A retrospective and agenda for future research on Chinese outward foreign direct investment. Journal of International Business Studies, 49(1), 423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chung, G. H., Du, J., & Choi, J. N. (2014). How do employees adapt to organizational change driven by cross-border M&As? A case in China. Journal of World Business, 49(1), 7886.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cui, L., Meyer, K. E., & Hu, H. W. (2014). What drives firms’ intent to seek strategic assets by foreign direct investment? A study of emerging economy firms. Journal of World Business, 49(4), 488501.Google Scholar
Deng, P. (2009). Why do Chinese firms tend to acquire strategic assets in international expansion? Journal of World Business, 44(1), 7484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Dick, R. (2004). My job is my castle: Identification in organizational contexts. In Cooper, C. L., & Robertson, I. T. (eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 171203) Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
van Dijk, R., & van Dick, R. (2009). Navigating organizational change: Change leaders, employee resistance and work-based identities. Journal of Change Management, 9(2), 143163.Google Scholar
van Dick, R., & Kerschreiter, R. (2016). The social identity approach to effective leadership: An overview and some ideas on cross-cultural generalizability. Frontiers of Business Research in China, 10(3), 363384.Google Scholar
van Dick, R., Lemoine, J. E., Steffens, N. K., Kerschreiter, R., Akfirat, S. A., Avanzi, L., Dumont, K., Epitropaki, O., Fransen, K., & Giessner, S. (2018). Identity leadership going global: Validation of the Identity Leadership Inventory across 20 countries. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 91(4), 697728.Google Scholar
van Dick, R., Wagner, U., Stellmacher, J., & Christ, O. (2004). The utility of a broader conceptualization of organizational identification: Which aspects really matter? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77(2), 171191.Google Scholar
Dutton, J. E., Dukerich, J. M., & Harquail, C. V. (1994). Organizational images and member identification. Administrative Science Quarterly, 39(2), 239239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forbes. (2019). World’s 500 largest corporations in 2019: China matches America. Available online at: Forbes.com.Google Scholar
Foreman, P., & Whetten, D. A. (2002). Member’s identification with multiple-identity organizations. Organization Science, 13(6), 618635.Google Scholar
Fukuyama, F. (1995). Trust: The social virtues and the creation of prosperity. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Giessner, S. (2011). Is the merger necessary? The interactive effect of perceived necessity and sense of continuity on post-merger identification. Human Relations, 64(8), 1079.Google Scholar
Global 500. (2010). 2010: Companies – C – FORTUNE. Available online at: CNNMoney.comGoogle Scholar
Haslam, S. A., Postmes, T., & Ellemers, N. (2003). More than a metaphor: Organizational identity makes organizational life possible. British Journal of Management, 14(4), 357369.Google Scholar
Haslam, S. A., Reicher, S. D., & Platow, M. J. (2020). The new psychology of leadership: Identity, influence and power (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Junker, N. M., van Dick, R., Häusser, J. A., Ellwart, T., & Zyphur, M. J. (2021). The I and we of team identification: A multilevel study of exhaustion and (in)congruence among individuals and teams in team identification. Group & Organization Management, 47(1), 10596011211004789.Google Scholar
Kostova, T., & Hult, G. T. M. (2016). Meyer and Peng’s 2005 article as a foundation for an expanded and refined international business research agenda: Context, organizations, and theories. Journal of International Business Studies, 47(1), 2332.Google Scholar
Kreiner, G. E., & Ashforth, B. E. (2004). Evidence toward an expanded model of organizational identification. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(1), 127.Google Scholar
Lau, W. K., Li, Z., & Okpara, J. (2020). An examination of three-way interactions of paternalistic leadership in China. Asia Pacific Business Review, 26(1), 3249.Google Scholar
Lee, E.-S., Park, T.-Y., & Koo, B. (2015). Identifying organizational identification as a basis for attitudes and behaviors: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 141(5), 10491080.Google Scholar
Li, W., & Hendrischke, H. (2020). Local integration and co‐evolution of internationalizing Chinese firms. Thunderbird International Business Review, 62(4), 425439.Google Scholar
Liang, S., Lupina-Wegener, A., Ullrich, J., & van Dick, R. (2021). “Change is our continuity”: Chinese managers’ construction of post-merger identification after an acquisition in Europe. Journal of Change Management, 22(1), 5978.Google Scholar
Lin, C.-H. V., & Sun, J.-M. J. (2018). Chinese employees’ leadership preferences and the relationship with power distance orientation and core self-evaluation. Frontiers of Business Research in China, 12(1), 122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luo, Y., & Tung, R. L. (2007). International expansion of emerging market enterprises: A springboard perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, 38(4), 481498.Google Scholar
Lupina-Wegener, A., & van Dick, R. (2016). Multiple shared identities in cross-border M&As. In Tarba, S., Cooper, S. C. L., Sarala, R. M., & Ahammad, M. F. (eds.), Mergers and acquisitions in practice (pp. 182191). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Lupina-Wegener, A., Drzensky, F., Ullrich, J., & van Dick, R. (2014). Focusing on the bright tomorrow? A longitudinal study of organizational identification and projected continuity in a corporate merger. British Journal of Social Psychology, 53(4), 752772.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupina-Wegener, A., Liang, S., Ullrich, J., & van Dick, R. (2020). Multiple organizational identities and change in ambivalence: The case of a Chinese acquisition in Europe. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 33(7), 12531275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupina-Wegener, A., Schneider, S. C., & van Dick, R. (2015). The role of outgroups in constructing a shared identity: A longitudinal study of a subsidiary merger in Mexico. Management International Review, 55(5), 677705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupina-Wegener, A. A., Karamustafa, G., & Schneider, S. C. (2015). Causes and consequences of different types of identity threat: Perceived legitimacy of decisions in M&As. In Risberg, A., King, D., & Meglio, O. (eds.), M&A Companion (pp. 354366). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mathews, J. A. (2006). Dragon multinationals: New players in 21st century globalization. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 23(1), 527.Google Scholar
Rousseau, D. (1998). Why workers still identify with organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 19(3), 217233.Google Scholar
Sarala, R. M., Vaara, E., & Junni, P. (2017). Beyond merger syndrome and cultural differences: New avenues for research on the “human side” of global mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Journal of World Business, 54(4), 307321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steffens, N. K., Haslam, S. A., Reicher, S. D., Platow, M. J., Fransen, K., Yang, J., Ryan, M. K., Jetten, J., Peters, K., & Boen, F. (2014). Leadership as social identity management: Introducing the Identity Leadership Inventory (ILI) to assess and validate a four-dimensional model. Leadership Quarterly, 25(5), 10011024.Google Scholar
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In Austin, W. G., & Worchel, S. (eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 3347). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.Google Scholar
Tian, Q., & Sanchez, J. I. (2017). Does paternalistic leadership promote innovative behavior? The interaction between authoritarianism and benevolence. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 47(5), 235246.Google Scholar
Turner, J. C. (1985). Social categorization and the self-concept: A social cognitive theory of group behavior. Advances in Group Processes: Theory and Research, 2, 77122.Google Scholar
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Ullrich, J., Wieseke, J., & Dick, R. V. (2005). Continuity and change in mergers and acquisitions: A social identity case study of a German industrial merger. Journal of Management Studies, 42(8), 15491569.Google Scholar
UNCTAD. (2019). World investment report, special economic zones. New York: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).Google Scholar
Vaara, E. (2003). Post‐acquisition integration as sensemaking: Glimpses of ambiguity, confusion, hypocrisy, and politicization. Journal of Management Studies, 40(4), 859894.Google Scholar
Wei, T., & Clegg, J. (2018). Effect of organizational identity change on integration approaches in acquisitions: Role of organizational dominance. British Journal of Management, 29(2), 337355.Google Scholar
Zhao, Z., Anand, J., & Mitchell, W. (2005). A dual networks perspective on inter‐organizational transfer of R&D capabilities: International joint ventures in the Chinese automotive industry. Journal of Management Studies, 42(1), 127160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×