Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Bryan Forsyth

Abstract

The failure rate of mergers in the United States is high at over 70%. One of the contributing factors to merger failure is mid-level managers do not have sufficient strategies for knowledge management. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive phenomenological study was to understand the merger-related knowledge management assets used by mid-level managers in the retention of employees at recently merged medium-size information technology firms in California from 2014 to 2019. The conceptual framework was Nonaka and Takeuchi’s 4 modes of knowledge conversion: socialization, externalization, internalization, and combination. Twelve mid-level managers working in California were recruited from LinkedIn to participate in the study. Data were collected using telephone interviews, and data were analyzed using Hycner’s phenomenological data analysis process. Eight themes emerged: communication, training and development, employee retention strategy, organizational culture, knowledge transfer, information technology, trust, and management support. Findings may be used by mid-level managers to understand knowledge management in M&A, improve knowledge sharing, and sustain competitive advantage, leading to social change. The improvement of employee retention may assist with greater organizational stability by increasing employee job satisfaction and decreasing employee turnover.

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