Role of Merger and Acquisition in Employee Satisfaction

This article discusses the role of merger and acquisition in employee satisfaction, using the example of Groupe SEB and WMF. It explores the factors that impact employee satisfaction and provides recommendations for improving it.

ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Role of Merger and Acquisition in Employee Satisfaction
Name of the student:
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Author’s note:

1ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Executive Summary:
The role of merger and acquisition in case of employee satisfaction is pretty much necessary for
two companies that are “Groupe SEB” and “WMF”. WMF is the definite “World leader” with a
28% Market share that is far ahead of its close competitor. French Groupe SEB manufactures the
small appliances and kitchenware represented in more than 120 countries worldwide. It is the
market campaign that support brands at every stage of the product launching process. The SEB
and WMF was merged increasing the large-scale campaigns to support operations in cooking in
future days. The merging is combining the Group efficiency to enhance flexibility and
productivity faced with variations in workload. The Groupe SEB manages its industrial and
trading policy to enhance the geographical distribution of production indicates that the groups
could provide its markets with the best service taking a significant number of criteria into
account. The objectivity lies in case of finding the motivation, trust and leadership of the
employee satisfaction in Groupe SEB. The set of evolution policy set the criterion such as
development skills, logistics, customs duties, exchange rates and new markets. In this context,
the agility and permanent evolution are the major performance variables of employee
satisfaction. Avoiding the challenges of Group’s ethical principles, environmental impact,
establishing the territories and communities and a responsible employment policy, the merged
organization would aim to grow the inducing factors that are leadership, trust and motivation.
Groupe SEB therefore applies the same system to check the ethical, social and environmental
needs respected by its suppliers in logistics and trading. As a result, Groupe SEB has become
doubled in size in ten years and now has more than 30,000 employees worldwide. This slow but
specific growth is supported by the human resource policy which highlights on developing skills
and consolidating a firm policy. If the quality of life of the employees increase in the workplace,
then, the work-life balance would be more acceptable. It would help the Group employees to
happily get involved in the economically viable community project. The crowdfunding initiative
has been geared up by Groupe SEB campaign. The Groupe SEB is leading the way of more than
95% products for a recipe for success. Within Groupe SEB, the commitment and progress of the
employees worked on reducing the bad environmental impact of the company. The efforts
resulted the definite and measurable progress. However, the interviews conducted for the
analysis shows that employees and officials of the Groupe SEB are not pretty much satisfied
because of the merging. The partnership could be pretty much successful because of SEB
partnership. The performance of Groupe SEB is going to be pretty much future in future.
However, in current scenario the company is still not perfectly adopted to operational marketing.
Groupe SEB need some years of strategic and structuring acquisition after merging and
adjusting. The significant strength and prospects of high-potential acquisition might get more
expanded and prospered as the responders of Groupe SEB informed. The launch of new
configuration and strategic policy making is very much necessary in this regard.

2ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION:............................................................................................3
1.1. Research Background:..........................................................................................................3
1.3. Research Aims:.....................................................................................................................4
1.4. Research Objectives:.............................................................................................................4
1.5. Significance of the Project:...................................................................................................4
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW:.................................................................................5
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:.................................................................9
3.1. Research Design:...................................................................................................................9
3.2. Target Population and Sample Size:.....................................................................................9
3.3. Sampling Method:...............................................................................................................10
3.4. Data Collection:..................................................................................................................10
3.5. Data Analysis:.....................................................................................................................10
3.6. Reliability and Validity of Data set:...................................................................................11
3.7. Ethical Consideration:.........................................................................................................11
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS:......................................................................................11
4.1. Qualitative Data Analysis:..................................................................................................11
4.2. Thematic Findings:.............................................................................................................12
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION:..............................................................................................14
5.1. Conclusions:........................................................................................................................14
5.2. Recommendations:..............................................................................................................15
5.3. Research Limitations:.........................................................................................................15
Time Scale:....................................................................................................................................16
References:....................................................................................................................................17
Appendix:......................................................................................................................................19

3ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION:
1.1. Research Background:
“Acquisition” and “Merger” generate downscaling or reorganize ‘fear’ to the employees,
‘threats’, ‘fear’ and ‘uncertainty’ to reduce job satisfaction of the employees. It would hamper
the ‘Working performance’ of the individuals. As a way, employee may not think about their
customers, influence the productivity and impact negatively to the organization involving
‘Business turnover’ (Bekenova, 2015). Recently Groupe SEB is fronting same types of issues
after acquisition with the German company WMF. They are unsatisfied with integration, non-
cooperation on ‘Information sharing’ such as supplier, project information and favor to own the
task instead of working together when the project information shared with Groupe SEB they
would not care about employees. The contextual of the study concentrates the acquisition
between “Germany Company WMF” and “Groupe SEB” (Groupe SEB, 2018).
The “German company WMF” is a widespread company in professional coffee-machines
and cookware while ‘Groupe SEB’ is a ‘French consortium’ specialized in business appliances.
‘Groupe SEB’ would be significantly benefitted from these decisions. Although Groupe SEB is
the prominent leader in manufacturing professional coffee machines, the company holds 28%
market share and WMF company is the undoubted leader in Germany with a 20% market share.
As an example, it could arrive to the ‘Attractive market’ of professional ‘coffee-machines’ and
strengthen its position in the field of cookware. However, it is great opportunistic approach for
both the companies, they have to produce significant synergy between various organizations
(McDonald and Keasey 2003). This acquisition would generate significant synergies. ‘Revenue
Synergies’ would appear from ‘WMF brand’ and ‘Commodity expansion’ in latest geographies
to the international existence of ‘Groupe SEB’ and also from the strengthening of ‘WMF
company’ with the products of groups. The company would be reputed to endure to deliver on its
‘Strategic development plan’ together with ‘Groupe SEB’.
Both the majority of consumers and suppliers regard that cookware products must not be
regarded distinctly as per materials utilized. The comparison of products and prices across
various channels would support to access every distribution channel in comparison of best prices.
Sales via online commerce have become a corresponding feature of German cookware market
(Filip, Grim and Haindl 2012). Brand awareness and positioning are found to be crucial in the
retail sector (Balz and Müller-Gastell 2017). The retail management of Groupe SEB has become
easier after evaluating cookware products in subsequent employee satisfaction. The following
research critically discusses the employee satisfaction and its influencing factors due to the
merging and acquisition of Groupe SEB and WMF.

4ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
1.2. Research Questions:
The research question is the inquiry into a specific concern or issue. It intends the initial
step of the project. Specification of research question is the methodological way of social or
natural sciences. The research questions of the current research could be formed as:
 What is the way to motivate employees after merger and acquisition?
 What are the obstacles that management require to overcome while attempting to enhance
satisfaction of employees?
 What is the way to gain trust for enhancing the employee-satisfaction?
 What is the way of improving ‘Employee-satisfaction’ after ‘Merger and acquisition’?
1.3. Research Aims:
The ultimate goal of research is to generate the measurable and testable data after adding
the accumulation of concerned human knowledge. The aim of the case study finds out the
strategies to enhance the ‘Employee satisfaction’ after being acquired by other organizations.
Research aim critically assess methodological goals or standards of measurements and
generalizability of findings that the process could not be sustained. Trust, motivation and
leadership are the causes of employee satisfaction that might be enhanced or decreased due to
acquisition of WMF company in Groupe SEB.
1.4. Research Objectives:
Research objective is the collection of defined steps that would help the analyst to
achieve the research aim. The research objectives are-
 To detect the factors hampering satisfaction of the employees after being acquired by
other organizations.
 To explore the issues experienced by the management to improve the satisfaction of the
employees.
 To recommend on strategies about improving satisfaction of the employees after being
acquired.
1.5. Significance of the Project:
As per Brueller, Carmeli and Markman (2018), ‘Mergers and acquisition’ have proved to
be tremendously ‘Popular strategy’ to achieve ‘Corporate diversification’ and growth. However,
the performance of ‘Merger and acquisition’ is declined when the management miscarries to
integrate the cultures of various workforces as per Rao-Nicholson, Khan and Stokes (2016). The
organizational culture of the organizations is relied up on the human resource system and

5ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
managerial lookouts. The research provides the significance to the recommendations of the
management team and HR team about managing ‘Employee satisfaction’ for maintaining or
growing productivity after being acquired by the other organizations. Research significances are
outlined with proper scientific rationale.
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW:
German Company WMF:
WMF is a German company that is the manufacturer of home appliances and hotel
equipment. The manufacturing company generally produces cutlery, kitchenware, cookware,
drinking glass, professional coffee machines. WMF, founded in Southern Germany, established
in 1853, holds a strong position in the market. The company has worldwide more than 200 retail
shops in 40 locations such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The core business of the WMF
could be categorized in three categories that are- “Kitchen Utensils”, “Food storage containers”
and “Thermo jugs and carafes”.
Groupe SEB:
French Groupe SEB manufactures the small appliances and kitchenware represented in
more than 120 countries worldwide. Groupe SEB owns more than 1000 active patents and
launches over 200 new products a year. Groupe SEB include brands like “Calor”, “Vogalu”,
“Krups”, “Tefal”, “Lagostina” and “Moulinex”. The headquarter of the holding companies of
SEB is located in Lyon.
(Source: Received from online)
Acquisition strategy of WMF and Groupe SEB:
Groupe SEB has acquired German group WMF to strengthen the global leadership of the
company by achieving the first position globally in the professional automatic coffee-machines
and becoming the ‘Cookware leader’ in Germany. ‘Groupe SEB’ is pleased to publicize that it

6ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
has confirmed today the acquisition of the ‘German group WMF’. On the basis of a 1585 million
euros enterprise value at December 31, 2015, the assumption of 125 million euros on the same
date and a 70 million euros payment to the seller in compensation for Groupe SEB retaining
WMF’s results from January 1, 2016. Debts entirely financed the acquisition. After signing the
transaction in May, 2016, the Group obtained a 1.3 billion euros bridge loan from its bank pool.
It could be refinanced which is already present in an advanced stage. In the new setup, Groupe
SEB 2016 pro forma sales would be approximately 6 million euro and the number of employees
would exceed 30000 people.
Acquisition outcomes:
As per the statement of Groupe SEB manager of Australia, Groupe SEB have a complete
premium offer of cookware brands from the various regions of the world that are Germany,
United Kingdom, United States, Germany and France. Cookware complements major cooking
appliances nicely. Customers would like to get the most out of their new even or induction
cooktop appreciating latest innovation and design in their cookware. According to Groupe SEB,
the purchase of WMF would permit the company for acquiring a ‘Strong-leadership’ in the
‘Professional-market’ of ‘Coffee-machines’. Strengthening the position of cookware, Groupe
SEB hastens its establishment in the major-market of the ‘Kitchen-utensils’ and ‘Accessories’. It
would also unite its ‘Brand portfolio’ with current and established organizations. The acquisition
would also access a huge network of more than 200 own-retail counters in Germany.
Future Prospect of the acquisition:
As per future prospect, Groupe SEB purchase would allow for becoming a considerable
leader in the very lucrative professional market of coffee machines and crookeries. Groupe SEB
is known for stable growth, large recurring sales and high profitability. After merging, the new
company would also strengthen its considerable position in cookware after instantly becoming
the number one brand of Germany alone (Lodorfos and Boateng 2006). The move of acquisition
also would strengthen the development of Groupe SEB in future days. The hope is that this great
company would be enriched by ‘Culture and Values’ based on an appetite for products and a
fascination for ‘Excellence’. The merging properties would help the determined value about
creating ‘Projects’ that would guarantee the ‘Smooth integration’ of teams of ‘German company
WMF’ which Group SEB would happily accept.
Employee Satisfaction:
Employee satisfaction indicates the personal feeling of an employee about the job that
hamper the motivation of the work (Greer 2001). It is a necessary component for the success in
business on the aspects of finance of an organization. The organization could provide the
aspiring and ‘Positive experience’ to the customers producing ‘Innovative services’ and products
through the ‘Understanding’ on various satisfaction levels of the employees (Wright,
Cropanzano and Bonett 2007). Trust of the customers can enhance the satisfaction of the

7ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
employees that drags obligation to the organization, employee retention, willingness to take risks
and personal goals to conquer (Lee and Way 2010). It may fulfil organizational targets and adopt
transformations.
Motivation:
The motivation of the employees of any organization possessed by the individuals and it
is not associated to the unconscious requirements or reward. For achieving the needs of the
individuals, the people get motivated and at the time of completing the fulfillment or the need of
the following aspects. The five motivational requirements that initiates from basic level are
“Physiological”, “Safety”, “Social”, “Self-actualization” and “Self-esteem” (Egan, Yang and
Bartlett 2004). Individuals of the organization should fulfil the basic level requirements that
develop to move the peak level enhancement that is “Self-actualization” (Huselid 1995).
However, the development would be hampered due to failure for achieving the ‘Lower level’
requirements and ‘Society’ cannot reward the motivation on ‘Self-actualization’.
‘Motivation’ may lead to the transformation of purpose of the employees and behavior
(Kuvaas 2006). One of the duties of the ‘Management’ in the companies is for creating the
‘Proper-environment’ so that the employees realize ‘Motivated’. Administrative management
require to impact and hamper motivation of the employees for performing the job. ‘Motivation’
is hampered by the ‘Performance incentives’ involving ‘Promotions’, ‘Rewards & recognitions’
and ‘Bonus’ in short-term. For motivating the employees in ‘Long-term policies’, requirements
of management to connect the aspects- ‘Personal interest’, ‘Employee desire’ and ‘Employee
rewards’ (Tietjen and Myers 1998). Beside the presence of performance incentives, the
organizations might provide the ‘Non-performance incentives’ for motivating employees and
staffs. The motivation of the employees provides ‘Non-performance incentives’ such as ‘Free
organization products’ for the employees and generate the scopes for staffs for participating in
‘Educational and enhancement program’ (Tichy 1981).
Leadership:
The leadership is described as a method in which the leaders and followers sustain each
other for achieving a greater level of ‘Morale and motivation’ that make the organization overall
benefitted to attain objectives (Podsakoff, MacKenzie and Bommer 1996). The organizations
pretty much require the transformational leadership used for communicating and describe the
clear version and distinctly to the employees that boosts them to overcome the ‘Resistances’ for
bringing changes within the organizations (Podsakoff et al. 1990). One of the dimensions of
‘Transformational leadership’ involves the ‘Inspirational motivation’ that leaders inspire their
workers to express their idea appealingly. The leadership factor needs to have effective
communicating skills that may support them to persuade and articulate their vision (Graen, Liden
and Hoel 1982).
Trust:

8ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Trust is a state that involves confident ‘Positive expectations’ about the motivation of
others with respect to oneself in conditions to entail risk as per Boon and Holmes (1991).
Overall, there exists three key components influences the ‘Level of trust’ involving ‘Individual
perception’ towards ‘Trust’, ‘Situational parameters’ and previous ‘Relationship’ between each
other (Gill 2008).
‘Trust’ effectively builds ‘Communication’, ‘Employee retentions’ and ‘Employee
motivation’. ‘Trust’ is crucial determinant of ‘Job satisfaction’ in management that enhances
‘Employee morale’ and ‘Productivity’. It decreases the ‘Employee turnover rate’ and could assist
to decrease the levels of stress as per Pahl and Richter (2013). ‘Effective leaders’ must stimulate
the ‘Trust’ of the employees through the ‘Feedback mechanisms’ for expressing their ‘Opinion’,
‘Open-book management’ for sharing tactics and its outcomes (Jyoti and Sharma 2012). An
‘Open and honest’ communication generates ‘Trust’ and with the ‘Quality of trust’, it muddles
employees and brands to produce adequate ‘Employee satisfaction’ (McKee, Hinton and Lamb
2009).
Figure: Conceptual Framework
(Source: Created by Author)
Employee Satisfaction due to Acquisition:
On the basis of acquisition due to employee satisfaction, the overall market would
differentiate various types of quality, product, price, material used and distribution channels used
(Blackman and Henderson 2001). WMF is not active as a “general retailer” for cookware
products. The work motivation, leadership and trust of the employees of Groupe SEB would

9ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
provide the potential supply association between retail activities and SEB activities. Both is
predominately sold for WMF’s brand presentation in department stores specialized in “Shop-in-
shop” concept. Therefore, the WMF is the closest brand to the customers. Such types of
mentality have brought the customers to the employees of the brand.
Employees feel satisfied when they are given importance. Presentation in loyalty
programs is proved to be special feature of cookware product markets. Loyalty programs should
be run by retailers to derive traffic in their stores and strengthen loyalty of shoppers (Vaara
2002). These employees are running discounted prices subject to the presentation prices by the
customers of a defined number of proofs for purchasing at participating stores. The employees
represent an identification of marketing instruments for retailers by running promotions when
retailers pursue the aim to enhance the customer traffic and loyalty (Schuler and MacMillan
1984). The organization has assessed whether the acquisition would have a significant effect in
the context of loyalty programs or not. Loyalty programs are generally organized at the initiative
of and are driven by the key manufacturers, retailers and bidding process (Matzler and Renzl
2006).
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
3.1. Research Design:
The ‘Research design’ is actually qualitative in nature as it is capable of learning,
exploring, describing and explaining the social reality. Such types of research unpack the
meaning behind the preferences of the people to ‘Detailed activities and actions’ according to
Leavy (2014). In this case, the ‘Employee satisfaction’ gets hampered by ‘Merger and
acquisition’ to find out the ‘Solution and suggestions’. For this research, the ‘In-depth interview’
is executed for the collection of ‘Primary data’. The data is original and authentic. This
qualitative data is a cross-sectional data in nature (Spencer and Ritchie 2002).
3.2. Target Population and Sample Size:
The ‘In-depth personal interviews’ are arranged with 5 participants from the ‘WMF
brand’ that is being acquired by Groupe SEB:
Job level No. of participant Working experience Working location
Engineer and officers 3 4 years or above who
experienced the
Hong Kong office
Team managers 2

10ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
acquisition by Groupe
SEB
3.3. Sampling Method:
The research study highlights on the satisfaction of the employees after being acquired or
merged. The researcher may choose the most proper sampling unit that is the employee
experienced to the procedure of ‘Merging and acquisition’. ‘Judgment sampling’ is utilized in
this research. Also, the population are chosen on determination and it is not dependent on
‘Random method’. Representatives are to be chosen from the company and the reliability is
based on the judgment of the chosen population as per Beri (2013).
The interview method is a popular way of judgment sampling. Interview research has an
idiographic objective that typically requires a sample size which is sufficiently small for
individual aspects to have an aiming voice within the study helpful for an intensive analysis
(Byrne 2001). Interviews are carried out while researchers make query about one or more
common participants, open-ended and tabulate their answers (Marshall 1996). One to one
interviews provide necessary information when they directly observe participants.
3.4. Data Collection:
For understanding the perception of people and behaviors with ‘Descriptive data’ by
asking the ‘Follow-up questions’ for ‘Additional data’ and ‘Insightful responses’, suitably ‘In-
depth personal interview’ is used for the research study (Berg, Lune and Lune 2004). The
interview is conducted face-to-face. Interviews could be described as a ‘Qualitative research
technique’ that includes execution of ‘Intensive interviews’ with a limited frequency of
interviews with a limited number of respondents for exploring the ‘Perspectives’ on the specific
concept, condition or program (Life 1994).
Each interview would last around 15-20 minutes for participants for expressing their
participants whereas the researcher could be able to gather information through asking associated
queries. The responded and unanswered queries are accordingly tabulated. The interviews
provided enough detailed information of topic. One-on-one interviews are executed as a data-
gathering method in which researcher asks questions for recording answers from only one
participant in the study at a time (Anderson 2010). The focus group of collecting qualitative data
is a group of 5 people (3 engineers & managers and 2 team managers). The questions of the
questionnaire are open-ended. Interviews are the theoretical sampling method.

11ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
3.5. Data Analysis:
To summarize the large data and for finding out the ‘Vital features’, ‘Thematic analysis’
would be utilized for exploring perspectives and perceptions of various interviewee by finding
out the variances and equalities to construct the insights (Patton 1990). After collecting the data
with the help of interviews, the researcher would reshape the data and summarize the data into
corresponding categories for addressing the inherent issues. The data analysis creates the
framework for analyzing data set from interviews. In case of qualitative data analysis, themes
and concepts are considered before the analysis begins and levied on the material (Easton,
McComish and Greenberg 2000). Here, the data is primary is nature and therefore free from bias
(Bevington et al. 1993).
3.6. Reliability and Validity of Data set:
The design of the ‘Reliability and validity’ of the data set on the basis of understanding
the theory from literature. ‘Identical questions’ would be utilized in this research for ensuring
stable questions for ‘Associated and authentic information’. It would avoid bias of the
participants. ‘Pilot study’ would be utilized for ensuring the questions understood as ‘intended’,
‘clear’ and ‘appropriate’ (Cohen, Manion and Morrison 2013). The questions could be
acceptable tune before performing proper ‘In-depth interview’ (Rossiter 2011). Not only that,
interview could be audio recorded with the consent of participants for ensuring the ‘Accuracy
and Transferability’.
3.7. Ethical Consideration:
The study would ensure that the ‘Confidential information’ of the participants to be
protected. It is anonymous to be utilized and amended as per job-titles in case of ‘In-depth
transcript’ (Orb, Eisenhauer and Wynaden 2001). The ‘Audio tapes’ would be demolished after
completion of this report. The information provided by the participants would only be utilized
for the determination of the research (Tracy 2010). The ethical consideration is explained to the
participants before starting of interviews. Also, the interviews are also ethically transcript.
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS:
4.1. Qualitative Data Analysis:
In case of broad sense, the ‘Qualitative research’ incorporates the research that does not
utilized ‘Statistical methods’ to enumerate outcomes (Marshall and Rossman 2014). The analyst

12ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
undertakes the qualitative work in the ‘Natural setting’ about trying to comprehend or ‘Interpret
phenomena’. The data analysis includes grounded theory, phenomenology, ethnography and
naturalistic enquiry (Wiles, Crow and Pain 2011).
There are many ways to collect data for capturing the combined ideas inherent to the
subject. Whilst ‘focus groups’, ‘interviews’ and ‘observations’ might be the most general
processes of ‘Qualitative data analysis’, ‘Qualitative research’ innately welcomes the creativity
and the utilization of ‘Innovative processes’ for achieving the in insight of the participants
outlook (Bevington et al. 1993). The qualitative data analysis includes the extract of socially
accepted responses (Strauss and Corbin 1990). Data analysis regards the ‘Different elements’ of
a ‘Research project’ in case of isolation. It is crucial that the researchers completely reflect the
level of stability and logical flow which is the trademark of any rigorous project (Dey 2003).
4.2. Thematic Findings:
The interviews of three employees (engineers and officers) indicate that three of them are
working in three different sectors of the company that are research & development, marketing
and quality management. They are trying to build the innovative production processes of the
company, designing the promotional strategies for the company and controlling proper quality
protocols. All of them are working more than five years in the company. They are the witnesses
of many changes and experienced many ups & downs of the company. As per report, SEB and
WMF are two reputed companies that have high expectations due to merger and acquisition.
Research & development officer is not still sure about the advantage of merging of SEB
and WMF. Marketing officer have observed immense transformations in case of hiring or firing,
loss of old positions and creation of new aspects. Quality management is hopeful to see huge
changes in the domain of international markets as well as varieties of products in future.
Obviously, marketing officer have not seen any additional benefits or advantages after
acquisition of the company as his/her salary is still same. The marketing officer realized that
merging has offered the management to expand more.
The employees suggested some aspects regarding the operational framework of the
company after change that are majorly- the change in leadership style, the transformation of
operational framework about corporate responsibilities and structural transformations. Although,
the employees are not sure about the significant changes in the attitude of the company after the
acquisition, the company has intended to make more profitability. The vision about employment
and hiring of the authority also have vividly changed due to acquisition.
The issues regarding merger and acquisition of SEB and WMF are prominent. First
interviewer informed that old and experienced employees are facing the lack of cooperation in
the company regarding the capabilities and intensions. Marketing officer highlighted the
concerns about leadership structure and management issues. Quality manager informed his/her

13ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
anxiety about the job security and employee deduction after the merging of WMF and SEB. The
perceptions regarding their mentioned issues informed as hiding of information especially from
research & development aspects, the presence of biasness of the people in the management of
WMF, dividing and favoring the people. Not only that, the level of trust must be higher and
enjoyable in a more free and lighter work environment. The leaders should motivate the
employees for overall performance focusing on production in the current scenarios.
The research and development officer do not think that employees like him are much
satisfied due to acquisition as it had generated tensed situation, lack of coordination as well as
insecurity towards work. The quality manager is also in a tensed and anxious state. The
marketing manager also supports their feedback. The first interviewer recommended more
cooperation within the employees and teammates for increasing the level of trust and satisfaction
within the organization. The marketing manager recommended the better orientation of the
employees as a big team of the merged authorities of SEB and WMF. The employee retention
and security retention should be more transparent and pure for post-merger to increase the level
of faith and satisfaction of employees. First interviewer consider that the merger would be
successful in the long run depending on the level of acceptance and cooperation between the
employees of both the companies. Marketing manager is against this acquisition as he/she
informed that in future days lot of employees are going to leave Groupe SEB. Quality manager
incurred to make the early comment.
The interviews of two administrative authorities depicts that one employee is working in
human resource management and other officer is working in marketing development. Both of
them are experienced employees as they are working more than six years. The acquisition and
merger for the company is being very fruitful and positive at the time of huge and long-term
process where both the companies should go through adjustment issues. Marketing development
officer is facing criticality regarding perceptions and motivations. The acquisition is hampering
the employee performance in Groupe SEB in context of comfortable environment. The
marketing manager informed that the performance is distinct due to various attitudes towards
work about level of confidence and motivations. The issues regarding trust and confidence is
pretty much problematic and the lack of cooperation & acceptance is vibrant from the both sides
Groupe SEB and WMF. The motivations regarding the level of motivation among the employees
after the merger is to change the tensed environment is vibrant. The lack of cooperation and
acceptance among SEB and WMF is happily welcomed with the vision of hard working.
After acquisition, the motivation of the employees has significantly changed after
merging. The employees are not in a comfortable mood as they are getting fear about joblessness
or insecurity. However, the marketing development administrative officer informed that
employees are willing to work in a new method although being demotivated. The management
should take the necessary steps to motivate the employees after merging in the form of
attempting to communicate with all the teammates as per human resource officer. The marketing
administrative officer also supported this proposition. The way-out of such types of motivation

14ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
could be apprehended by employee amalgamation, interactions and open & free flow of ideas
consecutively. The employee security policy is designed more effectively to make the relation of
employee and company more transparent and trustful. According to the second officer, the
employees know the employment policies and given responsibilities well that may make the
workers publicly appreciated.
The human and resource management officer informed that the leadership of the
authority is following the steps like monetary rewards, flexible working situations, employee
recreational opportunities as well as the starting of various training and skill enhancement
methods for the employees. The compensating structure and career prospects are being
restructured to gear up the level of satisfaction of the workers apart from the communication
channels between co-workers, supervisors and authority. Both the managers believe that
managers would have long term positive executions on the authority to keep the employees
happier. The marketing manager has little bit of anxiety. Although, the human resource manager
is hopeful about positive and hopeful shortcomings.
As a summary, it is observed that acquisition is not very much popular among employees
and managers. The Further, they are hopeful about coming future, although the current situation
after acquisition is not satisfactory. The outcome of merging of WMF and Groupe SEB is not
satisfactory. The employee satisfaction is not found significantly high for the scarcity of trust,
motivation and leadership. The employees and officials are waiting for the coming future.
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION:
5.1. Conclusions:
The acquisition of ‘Germany company WMF’ is a modern ‘Structuring step’ for progress
that permits the administrative authorities significantly in ‘Small domestic equipment’ in
Germany and merge very stable brands to their portfolio. The WMF might have a more superb
scope for becoming a ‘Leading player’ in the very admiring ‘Professional coffee-machine’ and to
take advantage of the ‘Cutting-edge technologies’ of the WMF for enriching their ‘Small
domestic equipment product offering’. More deals and probable strategies would be finalized in
the coming weeks upon the approval of German and Austrian competitive authorities. The
acquisition of WMF with Groupe SEB causes the key strategic interest to the merged
organization.
It is hopeful that proportion of greatly engaged employees would change from the
baseline because of restructuring and strategy transformation. The employees are most engaged
to remain resilient at the time of having change. The percentage activity engaged employees for
these times. Investing time for the welfare of the employees is pretty much necessary. The

15ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
acquisition of Germany company WMF is a new ‘Structuring way step’ in the expansion Groupe
SEB. Groupe SEB have ‘High respect’ for the WMF brand by which they share ‘Culture and
values’ on the basis of a ‘Passion’ for products and an ‘Obsession’ for excellence. The
‘Acquisition assets’ would help the ambitions of acquisition projects and should support the
formation of projects and would promise the ‘Smooth integration’ of Groupe WMF. Groupe SEB
may cheerfully welcome it.
However, Groupe SEB lost a significant number of tenders to competitors because of
dissatisfaction in previous scenarios. The management of employees engage during various types
of transformations and actions that have the highest influence in case of engagement. A majority
of customers responding to the market investigation realize that the acquisition is proved to be
successful. Consumers are being happy due to enough substantiality of available products. The
progress made by Groupe SEB and its business activity enhances the stake of superiority. The
acquisition of ‘Germany company WMF’ and ‘Groupe SEB’ is supposed to provide the group
more development. The strategic and structuring acquisition would be reinforced due to global
leadership in small domestic equipment, specially in cookware. Groupe SEB could be more able
to expand their businesses in Germany. In case of new configuration, Groupe SEB represents
more than 6 billion in sales and 600 million to operate outcomes from activity. Group
performances acquire professionalism and full supportive commitment in the context of
commitment of market.
Groupe SEB is taking approach further by offering the low-cost connectivity to the
people of classic version of the unique market with possibility. The uniqueness would innovate
the anticipation of potential evolution of the product before the initial launch. The group has
organized itself to respond to the employee demands and its measures.
5.2. Recommendations:
Groupe SEB should aim for further organic sales growth and an improvement in
operating outcomes from organizational activity simultaneously in 2016 and its new
configuration. Groupe SEB must operate a ‘Multi-brand’ strategy permitting to achieve wide
coverage of local and global markets as well as a precise segmentation of its product offer and
distribution. It would provide the best response to the expectations of multiple consumers. Such
kind of unique portfolio consists a ‘World-famous’ brands and leading local brands. It must
construct targeted acquisitions over years representing a major strategic advantage.
The acquisition must allow the Groupe SEB for differentiating itself and ensuring the
long-term growth. The happy and satisfied employees would create the path of consistent
positioning, geographically over time. The acquisition follow ups must clearly define the
platform that would enable local variation and values of the company. Moreover, it could be

16ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
recommended that innovation in every aspect must take into account a vast range of employee
nurture and expectations and provide the right support in every aspect of daily lives. To achieve
the target, Groupe SEB must adopt the techniques of implementing the understanding of local
requirements.
Listening of employees and communicating with authorities would let the authority for
taking further decisions in dedicated organizations.
5.3. Research Limitations:
Because of the ‘Judgment sampling’ to be utilized for the study, ‘Limited representatives’
are designated from the company. The results completely do not represent the ‘Whole
population’ (Rice and Ezzy 1999). As the reliability is on the basis of judgment of the chosen
population, biased outcomes could appear in the judgment sampling as per Ngazimbi et al.
(2018). Market studies and in-depth secondary researchers are needed for further consideration.
Numerically the results are not presented here as the analysis is qualitative, not quantitative
(Flick 2014).
Time Scale:
Research
Activities in 2018
26 May 6 June 16 June 23 June 30 June 7July 21 July 28 July
Literature
Review
Questionnaire
design
Pilot study
Conduct
interviews
Write transcript
Data analysis
Conclusions and
recommendations

17ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Finalize the
research report

18ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
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21ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Appendix:
In-Depth Interviews
Employees (With Non-Managerial Job Roles)
Respondent 1
Gender: Male
Age: 36 Years
Question 1 What is your position in the company and what are the
job roles assigned to you?
Answer 1 I work in the Research and Development department.
Being an engineer, my main responsibilities include
working on improving the production processes of the
company, both in terms of quality and also in terms of
cost effectiveness. I am also assigned with the
responsibility to work in a team whose main purpose is
to build innovative production processes for the
company.
Question 2 How long have you been working here?
Answer 2 I have been working in this company for almost seven
years now.
Question 3 Describe your personal perceptions regarding the merger
which took place recently?
Answer 3 Although I don’t understand the organizational strategies
very clearly, but according to my opinion, it is too early
to say anything as it takes time for the business decisions
like this to show its results and it also depends on many
factors like mutual trust, cooperation and market
competitions and other attributes. But given than both
SEB and WMF are reputed companies, the expectations
high from this merger and acquisition.
Question 4 Do you think that the merger has been beneficial for you?
Answer 4 I have been working with SEB for many years now. The
merger has till now shown any additional advantage for
me or employees like me till now, in terms of job
responsibilities or financial benefits. My job roles are
still the same and so is my salary structure.
Question 5 What changes have you perceived regarding the
operational framework of the company after merger?
Answer 5 The leadership structure and upper management
framework of the company, the merged one I mean, have
changed hugely.

22ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Question 6 Did you experience any changes in company’s attitude
towards you after merger?
Answer 6 Have not felt anything like that till now.
Question 7 Are there any issues which have been bothering you in
the company post-merger? Can you elaborate on the
issues?
Answer 7 Yes. One thing we, the old employees of SEB, have been
facing is the lack of cooperation from the employees of
WMF. It is as if their management have doubts regarding
our capabilities and intensions.
Question 8 What are the reasons behind your perceptions of the
above-mentioned issues after the merger?
Answer 8 I work in R&D, where information flow is very
important. But working jointly has led to the problem of
keeping information coveted, especially from their side,
which hampers the overall process.
Question 9 Has the said merger caused any changes in your overall
satisfaction level in working with the company?
Answer 9 There is a tensed situation and lack of coordination, the
effects of which come down to us. A situation of fear and
insecurity obviously works in that case.
Question 10 Is there anything you want to recommend to the
company, post-merger, for increasing the level of trust
and satisfaction of employees like you?
Answer 10 Yes, we expect the same warmth and approach to the
employees as we used to receive from the old
management with known faces. Cooperation is also
required and we need to work as a team.
Question 11 Do you think that the merger will be successful in the
long run?
Answer 11 It depends on how the management handles the merger
and on the level of acceptance and cooperation between
the employees of both the companies.
Respondent 2
Gender: Female
Age: 32
Question 1 What is your position in the company and what are the
job roles assigned to you?
Answer 1 I work in the marketing department of the company. To
be more specific, I work with the one of the marketing

23ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
teams of the company which works towards the
promotion of the products of the companies and
designing the promotional strategies for the company.
Question 2 How long have you been working here?
Answer 2 For more than five years.
Question 3 Describe your personal perceptions regarding the merger
which took place recently?
Answer 3 The merger has led to immense changes in the employee
structure of the company. We have seen many hiring and
firing, loss of old positions and creation of new.
Question 4 Do you think that the merger has been beneficial for you?
Answer 4 I don’t think so. Actually, the merger has made me feel
much more insecure and demotivated post the merger.
The behavior of the combined management is much more
professional and those especially from WMF are not
accustomed with the idea of working together in a free
and productive environment.
Question 5 What changes have you perceived regarding the
operational framework of the company after merger?
Answer 5 It’s all related to profit and more market sales and
revenues now. The earlier operational framework was
also profit oriented but the overall employee satisfaction,
corporate responsibilities were also used to be taken
seriously by the company.
Question 6 Did you experience any changes in company’s attitude
towards you after merger?
Answer 6 Yes. After the merger the company has become so much
profit oriented and competitive that the level of empathy
has been decreasing. This has been putting immense
pressure on us. I constantly feel that there are
possibilities of losing my job.
Question 7 Are there any issues which have been bothering you in
the company post-merger? Can you elaborate on the
issues?
Answer 7 Yes. Our leadership structure and management changed.
They do not motivate us like before and our efforts are
not appreciated appropriately. The marketing employees
of WMF are also not that cooperative and remain biased
towards their team-mates.
Question 8 What are the reasons behind your perceptions of the
above-mentioned issues after the merger?
Answer 8 I have noticed the presence of biasness of the people in
the management and higher posts, especially those from
the WMF, dividing and favoring their people over us and
they also tend to work in privacy with less attachment or
intension to collectively work as a team.

24ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Question 9 Has the said merger caused any changes in your overall
satisfaction level in working with the company?
Answer 9 I personally feel less satisfied and motivated to work now
in this company, especially after the acquisition.
Question 10 Is there anything you want to recommend to the
company, post-merger, for increasing the level of trust
and satisfaction of employees like you?
Answer 10 Yes. The management need to work on orienting the
employees to think themselves as one big team and not
separate entities as SEB or WMF. The old employees
should also be bestowed with more responsibilities and
provided financial benefits to make them feel secure.
Question 11 Do you think that the merger will be successful in the
long run?
Answer 11 If this continues, lot of employees, especially the
experienced ones will leave soon. I don’t think that will
help the company in the coming years.
Respondent 3
Gender: Male
Age: 41 years
Question 1 What is your position in the company and what are the
job roles assigned to you?
Answer 1 I am currently in the quality management department of
SEB. The products manufactured by the company always
pass through strict quality control procedures and I am
one of the members of the team, which ensures that
uniform and proper quality is maintained following the
protocols of the company.
Question 2 How long have you been working here?
Answer 2 Five years four months to be more precise.
Question 3 Describe your personal perceptions regarding the merger
which took place recently?
Answer 3 Maybe it will be for the expansion of the company and
its domain in international markets as well as in varieties
of products it aims to offer in future.
Question 4 Do you think that the merger has been beneficial for you?

25ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Answer 4 I don’t feel much difference in terms of jobs. My
reporting head has changes however. But there may be
more opportunities for us given that the company is
expanding.
Question 5 What changes have you perceived regarding the
operational framework of the company after merger?
Answer 5 Many new activities have been taking place. New teams
have been formed. Our work structures have also
changed to some extent and we need to collaborate with
the WMF teams. Management level has experienced
more changes.
Question 6 Did you experience any changes in company’s attitude
towards you after merger?
Answer 6 To some extent. There are more new rules and
regulations and more pressure to produce more and be
more efficient. I also fear losing my jobs as they are
bringing changes in their employment and hiring aspects.
Question 7 Are there any issues which have been bothering you in
the company post-merger? Can you elaborate on the
issues?
Answer 7 The primary problem I feel is that of the decrease in our
job security now that the company has acquired and
merged with WMF. I am not sure how the new leaders
and managers of that company view us and our need.
There remains a distance between us, the employees and
the new people in the management.
Question 8 What are the reasons behind your perceptions of the
above-mentioned issues after the merger?
Answer 8 In the old scenario, the level of trust was much higher
and we used to enjoy a much free and light work
environment. Our leaders have always motivated to
enhance our performance as a whole, instead of just
focusing on how much we are producing. These things I
feel are absent in the current scenarios.
Question 9 Has the said merger caused any changes in your overall
satisfaction level in working with the company?
Answer 9 I work in a much tensed and less warm environment. The
level of cautiousness is high.
Question 10 Is there anything you want to recommend to the
company, post-merger, for increasing the level of trust
and satisfaction of employees like you?
Answer 10 Yes. The employee retention and security policies have
to be more transparent and the people who had been
already working with the company, before the merger
have to be motivated more and their positions have to be
made more secure.

26ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Question 11 Do you think that the merger will be successful in the
long run?
Answer 11 It is too early to comment.
In-depth Interviews (With Managers)
Respondent 1
Gender: Male
Age: 38 years
Question 1 What is your position in the company?
Answer 1 I work as a human resource manager for the company. I
am responsible for the overall welfare of the employees
in the company and their performance and productivity.
Question 2 For how long have you been working in the company?
Answer 2 Its been six years I am attached to the company.
Question 3 How do you feel the merger has been working for the
company?
Answer 3 Till now it seems that it has been looking positive.
However, there are several issues which we need to take
into consideration as it is a huge and long-term process
where both the companies and their employees need to
go through a lot of adjustment issues.
Question 4 Has the merger affected the overall performance of the
employees in any way?
Answer 4 Yes. To some extent. Especially the old ones of SEB. In
a negative way to a considerable extent. Most of them I
feel are not still comfortable with the new work
environment after the merger took place.
Question 5 Do you or the management face any difficulty in the
aspects of managing the employees?
Answer 5 Yes. Since the merger and acquisition has taken place,
the level of tensions among the employees has increased
to a considerable extent. This is especially in the aspects
of losing their jobs I feel as a lot of structural changes
have taken place in the company especially after merger.
Question 6 Is there any change in the level of trust and confidence of
the employees after the merger took place?
Answer 6 As I told before, the employees have become more
sceptic regarding their positions and job security. The
level of trust of the employees on the new management
structure is also considerably lower.

27ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Question 7 Is there any change in the level of motivation among the
employee after the merger took place?
Answer 7 The employees have been working in a tensed
environment and I feel that the constant fear of
joblessness or insecurity tend to decrease their
motivations.
Question 8 What are the steps the management has been taking to
motivate the employees after merger?
Answer 8 I, personally, try to communicate with them to know
about their grievances and problems which they face in
adjusting. I have also started conducting anonymous
surveys and one to one interactions with them.
Employees are also awarded and appreciated when they
perform well.
Question 9 What policies have been implemented to gain the trust of
the employees by the company post-merger?
Answer 9 The employee security policies have been designed more
effectively and have also been made transparent and their
grievances are also taken seriously and addressed as
much as possible to gain their trust.
Question 10 Are there any steps taken by the company to boost the
satisfaction level of the employees after merger?
Answer 10 The new management have been taking steps like
monetary rewards, flexible work conditions, employee
recreational scopes along with initiation of various
training and skill development processes for the
employees. New job roles have also been introduced.
Question 11 What is the future of this merger?
Answer 11 This merger will have long term positive implications on
the company provided we manage to keep our employees
happy.
Respondent 2
Gender: Male
Age: 38 years
Question 1 What is your position in the company?
Answer 1 I am the manager of the marketing department of the
company.
Question 2 For how long have you been working in the company?
Answer 2 I have been here for 9 years.
Question 3 How do you feel the merger has been working for the
company?

28ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Answer 3 Personally, I feel there are some problems which the
company has been facing, especially in terms of the
performance of the employees and their perceptions and
motivations.
Question 4 Has the merger affected the overall performance of the
employees in any way?
Answer 4 Not the performance very distinctly but their attitudes
towards work and level of confidence and motivations
have been seen to be changing.
Question 5 Do you or the management face any difficulty in the
aspects of managing the employees?
Answer 5 There are several difficulties which we have been facing
in terms of managing the employees. Especially in terms
of motivation, trust and adjustment issues.
Question 6 Is there any change in the level of trust and confidence of
the employees after the merger took place?
Answer 6 There is a lack of cooperation and acceptance among the
employees from both the sides (SEB and WMF) in terms
of working together. Also, the changes in the company’s
structure have made many of them doubtful about their
future. However, this is not the case with all. Some I feel
to have welcomed the change happily with the vision of
working hard and reaching new heights in the new work
environment now.
Question 7 Is there any change in the level of motivation among the
employee after the merger took place?
Answer 7 Some of them are clearly demotivated as they have to
adjust to a more formal, new and complicated work
environment. Some are however motivated to work in a
new method.
Question 8 What are the steps the management has been taking to
motivate the employees after merger?
Answer 8 The company has been encouraging employee
amalgamation, interactions and open and free flow of
ideas. Employees are heard and their ideas are also given
importance.
Question 9 What policies have been implemented to gain the trust of
the employees by the company post-merger?
Answer 9 The employees know the employment policies well now.
Sessions have been conducted. The experienced
employees are given more responsibilities and the efforts
of the workers are publicly appreciated.
Question 10 Are there any steps taken by the company to boost the
satisfaction level of the employees after merger?
Answer 10 The compensation structure and career prospects are
redesigned to boost up the level of satisfaction of the

29ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
employees apart from the communication channels
between them and their co-workers and their supervisors.
Question 11 What is the future of this merger?
Answer 11 This merger, in spite of its temporary shortcomings have
the potential to prove itself to be a positive and
successful decision on part of both the companies in the
future.

ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Respondent 1 Respondent 2 Respondent 3
Question 1 What is your position in the company and what are the job roles assigned to you?
Answer 1 I work in the Research and
Development department. Being
an engineer, my main
responsibilities include working
on improving the production
processes of the company, both in
terms of quality and also in terms
of cost effectiveness. I am also
assigned with the responsibility to
work in a team whose main
purpose is to build innovative
production processes for the
company.
I work in the marketing department
of the company. To be more specific,
I work with the one of the marketing
teams of the company which works
towards the promotion of the
products of the companies and
designing the promotional strategies
for the company.
I am currently in the quality
management department of SEB.
The products manufactured by the
company always pass through
strict quality control procedures
and I am one of the members of
the team, which ensures that
uniform and proper quality is
maintained following the protocols
of the company.
Question 2 How long have you been working here?
Answer 2 I have been working in this
company for almost seven years
now.
For more than five years. Five years four months to be more
precise.
Question 3 Describe your personal perceptions regarding the merger which took place recently?
Answer 3 Although I don’t understand the
organizational strategies very
clearly, but according to my
opinion, it is too early to say
anything as it takes time for the
business decisions like this to
show its results and it also
depends on many factors like
mutual trust, cooperation and
market competitions and other
attributes. But given than both
SEB and WMF are reputed
companies, the expectations high
The merger has led to immense
changes in the employee structure of
the company. We have seen many
hiring and firing, loss of old
positions and creation of new.
Maybe it will be for the expansion
of the company and its domain in
international markets as well as in
varieties of products it aims to
offer in future.

1ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
from this merger and acquisition.
Question 4 Do you think that the merger has been beneficial for you?
Answer 4 I have been working with SEB for
many years now. The merger has
till now shown any additional
advantage for me or employees
like me till now, in terms of job
responsibilities or financial
benefits. My job roles are still the
same and so is my salary
structure.
I don’t think so. Actually, the merger
has made me feel much more
insecure and demotivated post the
merger. The behavior of the
combined management is much
more professional and those
especially from WMF are not
accustomed with the idea of working
together in a free and productive
environment.
I don’t feel much difference in
terms of jobs. My reporting head
has changes however. But there
may be more opportunities for us
given that the company is
expanding.
Question 5 What changes have you perceived regarding the operational framework of the company after merger?
Answer 5 The leadership structure and upper
management framework of the
company, the merged one I mean,
have changed hugely.
It’s all related to profit and more
market sales and revenues now. The
earlier operational framework was
also profit oriented but the overall
employee satisfaction, corporate
responsibilities were also used to be
taken seriously by the company.
Many new activities have been
taking place. New teams have
been formed. Our work structures
have also changed to some extent
and we need to collaborate with
the WMF teams. Management
level has experienced more
changes.
Question 6 Did you experience any changes in company’s attitude towards you after merger?
Answer 6 Have not felt anything like that till
now.
Yes. After the merger the company
has become so much profit oriented
and competitive that the level of
empathy has been decreasing. This
has been putting immense pressure
on us. I constantly feel that there are
possibilities of losing my job.
To some extent. There are more
new rules and regulations and
more pressure to produce more
and be more efficient. I also fear
losing my jobs as they are bringing
changes in their employment and
hiring aspects.
Question 7 Are there any issues which have been bothering you in the company post-merger? Can you elaborate on the
issues?
Answer 7 Yes. One thing we, the old Yes. Our leadership structure and The primary problem I feel is that

2ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
employees of SEB, have been
facing is the lack of cooperation
from the employees of WMF. It is
as if their management have
doubts regarding our capabilities
and intensions.
management changed. They do not
motivate us like before and our
efforts are not appreciated
appropriately. The marketing
employees of WMF are also not that
cooperative and remain biased
towards their team-mates.
of the decrease in our job security
now that the company has
acquired and merged with WMF. I
am not sure how the new leaders
and managers of that company
view us and our need. There
remains a distance between us, the
employees and the new people in
the management.
Question 8 What are the reasons behind your perceptions of the above-mentioned issues after the merger?
Answer 8 I work in R&D, where
information flow is very
important. But working jointly has
led to the problem of keeping
information coveted, especially
from their side, which hampers
the overall process.
I have noticed the presence of
biasness of the people in the
management and higher posts,
especially those from the WMF,
dividing and favouring their people
over us and they also tend to work in
privacy with less attachment or
intension to collectively work as a
team.
In the old scenario, the level of
trust was much higher and we used
to enjoy a much free and light
work environment. Our leaders
have always motivated to enhance
our performance as a whole,
instead of just focussing on how
much we are producing. These
things I feel are absent in the
current scenarios.
Question 9 Has the said merger caused any changes in your overall satisfaction level in working with the company?
Answer 9 There is a tensed situation and
lack of coordination, the effects of
which come down to us. A
situation of fear and insecurity
obviously works in that case.
I personally feel less satisfied and
motivated to work now in this
company, especially after the
acquisition.
I work in a much tensed and less
warm environment. The level of
cautiousness is high.
Question 10 Is there anything you want to recommend to the company, post-merger, for increasing the level of trust and
satisfaction of employees like you?
Answer 10 Yes, we expect the same warmth
and approach to the employees as
we used to receive from the old
management with known faces.
Yes. The management need to work
on orienting the employees to think
themselves as one big team and not
separate entities as SEB or WMF.
Yes. The employee retention and
security policies have to be more
transparent and the people who had
been already working with the

3ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Cooperation is also required and
we need to work as a team.
The old employees should also be
bestowed with more responsibilities
and provided financial benefits to
make them feel secure.
company, before the merger have
to be motivated more and their
positions have to be made more
secure.
Question 11 Do you think that the merger will be successful in the long run?
Answer 11 It depends on how the
management handles the merger
and on the level of acceptance and
cooperation between the
employees of both the companies.
If this continues, lot of employees,
especially the experienced ones will
leave soon. I don’t think that will
help the company in the coming
years.
It is too early to comment
For Managers
Respondent 1 Respondent 2
Question 1 What is your position in the company?
Answer 1 I work as a human resource manager for the
company. I am responsible for the overall welfare
of the employees in the company and their
performance and productivity.
I am the manager of the marketing department of
the company.
Question 2 For how long have you been working in the company?
Answer 2 It’s been six years I am attached to the company. I have been here for 9 years.
Question 3 How do you feel the merger has been working for the company?
Answer 3 Till now it seems that it has been looking positive.
However, there are several issues which we need
to take into consideration as it is a huge and long-
term process where both the companies and their
employees need to go through a lot of adjustment
issues.
Personally, I feel there are some problems which
the company has been facing, especially in terms of
the performance of the employees and their
perceptions and motivations.

4ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
Question 4 Has the merger affected the overall performance of the employees in any way?
Answer 4 Yes. To some extent. Especially the old ones of
SEB. In a negative way to a considerable extent.
Most of them I feel are not still comfortable with
the new work environment after the merger took
place.
Not the performance very distinctly but their
attitudes towards work and level of confidence and
motivations have been seen to be changing.
Question 5 Do you or the management face any difficulty in the aspects of managing the employees?
Answer 5 Yes. Since the merger and acquisition has taken
place, the level of tensions among the employees
has increased to a considerable extent. This is
especially in the aspects of losing their jobs I feel
as a lot of structural changes have taken place in
the company especially after merger.
There are several difficulties which we have been
facing in terms of managing the employees.
Especially in terms of motivation, trust and
adjustment issues.
Question 6 Is there any change in the level of trust and confidence of the employees after the merger took place?
Answer 6 As I told before, the employees have become more
sceptic regarding their positions and job security.
The level of trust of the employees on the new
management structure is also considerably lower.
There is a lack of cooperation and acceptance
among the employees from both the sides (SEB
and WMF) in terms of working together. Also, the
changes in the company’s structure have made
many of them doubtful about their future.
However, this is not the case with all. Some I feel
to have welcomed the change happily with the
vision of working hard and reaching new heights in
the new work environment now.
Question 7 Is there any change in the level of motivation among the employee after the merger took place?
Answer 7 The employees have been working in a tensed
environment and I feel that the constant fear of
joblessness or insecurity tend to decrease their
motivations.
Some of them are clearly demotivated as they have
to adjust to a more formal, new and complicated
work environment. Some are however motivated to
work in a new method.
Question 8 What are the steps the management has been taking to motivate the employees after merger?
Answer 8 I, personally, try to communicate with them to
know about their grievances and problems which
they face in adjusting. I have also started
The company has been encouraging employee
amalgamation, interactions and open and free flow
of ideas. Employees are heard and their ideas are

5ROLE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION IN EMPLOYEE SATISFCATION
conducting anonymous surveys and one to one
interactions with them. Employees are also
awarded and appreciated when they perform well.
also given importance.
Question 9 What policies have been implemented to gain the trust of the employees by the company post-merger?
Answer 9 The employee security policies have been
designed more effectively and have also been
made transparent and their grievances are also
taken seriously and addressed as much as possible
to gain their trust.
The employees know the employment policies well
now. Sessions have been conducted. The
experienced employees are given more
responsibilities and the efforts of the workers are
publicly appreciated.
Question 10 Are there any steps taken by the company to boost the satisfaction level of the employees after merger?
Answer 10 The new management have been taking steps like
monetary rewards, flexible work conditions,
employee recreational scopes along with initiation
of various training and skill development
processes for the employees. New job roles have
also been introduced.
The compensation structure and career prospects
are redesigned to boost up the level of satisfaction
of the employees apart from the communication
channels between them and their co-workers and
their supervisors.
Question 11 What is the future of this merger?
Answer 11 This merger will have long term positive
implications on the company provided we manage
to keep our employees happy.
This merger, in spite of its temporary shortcomings
have the potential to prove itself to be a positive
and successful decision on part of both the
companies in the future.

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