An Analysis of Attitudes Toward a Planned Merger

Abstract

Questionnaire data from eighty-seven middle-management personnel in a bank planning a merger with a larger bank were analyzed.' Attitudes toward the merger tended to be unfavorable, although they ranged from very favorable to very unfavorable. Favorable attitudes were related to older age, lack of previous success in the organization, high morale, and high F-scale scores (authoritarianism). Unfavorable attitudes toward the merger seemed to be principally associated with: younger age, a pattern of success in the organization, low current morale, and low authoritarianism. Timothy W. Costello is professor of psychology and management, and Charles L. Shaffer is associate professor of management, in the Graduate School of Business Administration, New York University. Joseph F. Kubis i's professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Arts and Science, Fordham University.