The human side of mergers and acquisitions : managing collisions between people, cultures, and organizations by Buono Anthony F;Bowditch James L & Bowditch James L

Author:Buono, Anthony F;Bowditch, James L & Bowditch, James L
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Consolidation and merger of corporations, Personnel management, Corporate culture
Publisher: San Francisco : Jossey-Bass Publishers
Published: 1989-10-25T16:00:00+00:00

Integrating Cultures and Managing Conflicts

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Bank, despite the relatively equal size of other aspects of the organizations. More importantly, however, this myth was a reflection of the overall philosophy of the two banks—the high people orientation of Urban Bank and the greater focus on task in Suburban Bank.

Another story about the two organizations focused on institutional commitment to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The CRA, which was passed in 1977, calls for banks to play a central role in the community renewal process by working toward the revitalization of declining neighborhoods through an affirmative action program of local housing and small business lending. Since success of these efforts is thought to depend primarily on improved communication between banks and their surrounding low- and moderate-income communities, the CRA requires financial institutions to take the initiative to ensure that the bank serves the "legitimate credit needs" and "convenience" of its community (Buono and Nichols, 1985).

On the basis of CRA guidelines and the discussion sessions Urban Bank initiated with local groups, it appeared that that organization was more concerned with meeting community needs than was Suburban Bank. Urban Bank, moreover, received a considerable amount of favorable press for the rehabilitation of an urban three-decker structure that was sold (with mortgage assistance) as condominiums to three moderate-income families in the local community. Over time, the highly favorable perception of Urban Bank and the relatively unfavorable image that developed concerning Suburban Bank's community reinvestment activities exceeded the actual performance differences between the two organizations. A favorite story told by numerous employees, at ail organizational levels, was that when a community group would approach the banks with a request, Urban Bank's CEO would respond, "Let's sit down and talk about it," while Suburban Bank's CEO would simply say, "[expletive deleted] them!" While the actual CRA performance between the two banks did not differ that significantly, the image of each institution and the beliefs that that image represents in the story reflect the values of each culture. Especially when such stories are about the actions of influential people or organi-

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