Human integration following M&A: Synthesizing different M&A research streams

Despite the extensive amount of research on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), failure rates continue to be high. Increased attention has been attributed to human integration; however, as M&A are multifaceted complex phenomena, this paper presents a literature review on the strategic management school, the organizational behavior school, and the process school in order to provide an integrative perspective on post-merger integration. By exemplifying interrelationships in human resource management (HRM) in each school of thought, as well as in intricacies of human matters, we provide suggestions for research. First, human integration and its consequences for HRM need to be considered in a context-dependent manner. Second, human integration is not a static event, as employees evolve from the integration process, where changes need to be analyzed over time to develop an understanding for implications in HRM. Third, research needs to consider new methods or combinations of methods in order to overcome the de-naturalization of humans in M&A. •M&A research is fragmented.•Rather implicit assumptions about humans in M&A.•M&A failure is often attributed to poor integration of humans.