THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPATIBILITY IN MANAGEMENT STYLE FOR SUCCESSFUL CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN ACQUIRED COMPANIES

In academic community there is no consensus on the optimal design and implementation of acquisition strategy, yet different factors and perspectives for successful acquisition are being analyzed. One of the key factors for successful acquisition is optimal change management in target company. In this paper, successful performance of target company after the acquisition is defined by comparison of business performance prior and after the acquisition using financial indicators. Optimal change management is defined by employees’ resistance, and therefore the aim of this paper is to determine the impact of management style on employees’ resistance during change process in target company. Hypothesis according to which similarity between new management of the acquired company and replaced management results in lower employees’ resistance is also tested in this research. Empirical research was conducted using a questionnaire on the sample of target companies that were acquired in the period from 1998 until 2006 in the Republic of Croatia. Scientific contribution of this paper can be seen through the verification of importance of compatibility in management style for successful change management in acquired companies.