| Summary: | Mergers continue to increase globally. Leaders have a critical role in the success of those mergers based on the practices that they employ during this change phenomenon. This study examines leadership practices within a financial organization during a merger and explores how these practices influence the merger. This study also identifies challenges faced by organizations during the merger process. During this qualitative study, interviews were conducted with 17 leaders to understand what leaders do in times of mergers. Through their stories, they identified leadership practices and described how these practices influenced the merger process. Seven leadership themes emerged from the data including: (a) Providing Strategic Vision, (b) Utilizing Effective Communication, (c) Creating a Positive Organizational Culture, (d) Commitment to Fairness, (e) Effective Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, (f) Problem Solving and Decision Making, and (g) Managing Change and the Unknown. The interviews also provided insights into some of the challenges faced by organizations before, during, and after a merger. A conceptual model grounded in theory helped guide the study.
Although the body of literature regarding mergers continues to grow, there has been limited examination about the influence of leadership practices before, during, and after a merger. This study adds to the research literature in two ways. First, it has made a new contribution as academic research dealing with financial institutions and specifically the co-operative movement. Secondly, this study also builds on some of the scholarly work related to the leadership practices as they relate to creating a vision, creating a positive culture, effective communication, commitment to fairness, problem solving and decision making, effective negotiation, and managing change.
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