Supporting Collective Action after a Major Organisational Change

Abstract

This paper analyses a case study, the merger of two multinational companies, in the light of collective decision making. The particular organisation on which our analysis focuses is a traditional UK based British engineering company that in 1999 bought a collective of family-run businesses, scattered across Scandinavia. This paper draws on the findings from a research project carried out with the newly created company during the post-merger period. The paper explores how the two collectives brought together via a merger are trying to work, make and implement decisions and move forward. The analysis shows how the tension generated by the different narratives brought to place in the merger and the initial resistance to engage in collective action is potentially overcome by the co-authoring of a new narrative, a new “proceduralised context”. This collective co-construction is seen in the paper not as a final output but rather as part of a constant becoming, a “liquid decision making” process (after Bauman, 2000). A finding of this study is that enabling symbolic spaces (contexts) for new narratives to emerge and develop can support the improvement of collective actions.