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Organizational behavior --- Corporate culture --- Communities of practice --- Knowledge management

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Organization theory --- 65.012.4 --- Management --- Corporate culture --- Culture, Corporate --- Institutional culture --- Organizational culture --- Corporations --- Organizational behavior --- Business anthropology --- Administration --- Industrial relations --- Organization --- Management. Directorate. Technique and methods of management --- Sociological aspects --- Corporate culture. --- Management. --- 65.012.4 Management. Directorate. Technique and methods of management --- Organisation de l'entreprise

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65.01 --- Corporate culture --- Organizational behavior --- Behavior in organizations --- Management --- Organization --- Psychology, Industrial --- Social psychology --- Culture, Corporate --- Institutional culture --- Organizational culture --- Corporations --- Business anthropology --- Methods and methodology. Theory and practice of organization --- Sociological aspects --- Theses --- Corporate culture. --- Organizational behavior. --- 65.01 Methods and methodology. Theory and practice of organization

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Everyday bankers and investors are dealing with Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) in order to develop their businesses. Those operations are lead across every market sector and geographical area, involving companies abroad. As a result, this globalization and the desire to explore new opportunities bind multiple companies and different cultures to bridge together. 

Differences in organizational cultures have made the process very complex and challenging for managers. Every structure is managed in a different way because of the corporate culture which is influenced by many components such as national, market, or people’s culture. Several influences make a unique combination and companies are therefore different from each other. An additional component is to be taken into consideration when a group decides to acquire a SME managed by a single leader who decides to sell and then is expected to leave the company.

The differences between those enterprises can cause an organizational culture shock as the group acquires the smaller company, leading to a bridging of corporate cultures. This shock can drive employees away and end up in very bad results. Experts indeed recognize that the difficulty to bridge two different corporate cultures is the first cause for an acquisition failure as groups are mainly focused on the financial aspect of an acquisition in spite of cultural and human aspects.

Such an operation therefore requires a well-thought change management plan .This research attempts to come up with several recommendations when dealing with an acquisition of a SME by a group. Every case is different and is to be analyzed as such - this paper is obviously not the ultimate guideline. However, thanks to the theory analysis and interviews with experts, this research lists mistakes to avoid and points of attention to carefully take into account.

SME acquisition --- M&A --- Mergers & Acquisitions --- Culture shock --- Corporate culture --- change management --- Choc des cultures --- Fusion-Acquisition --- Culture d'entreprise --- gestion du changement --- acquisition de PME --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Gestion de l'entreprise & théorie des organisations

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Ces dernières années, le monde de l’entreprise rencontre plusieurs difficultés, dont la complexification de notre société et la démotivation des travailleurs. Un nombre croissant d’auteurs dont Laloux, Getz et Vanhée constatent que la hiérarchie pyramidale est désormais inapte à répondre à des problèmes complexes et à assouvir les besoins d’épanouissement et de reconnaissance des salariés, besoins nécessaires à leur motivation et à leur productivité au travail. C’est dans ce contexte qu’a vu le jour l’entreprise libérée, « entreprise fondée sur la responsabilité et la liberté, dans laquelle la majorité des salariés décident eux-mêmes des actions qu’ils estiment bénéfiques pour l’entreprise » (Getz, 2016, quatrième de couverture).
Ce mémoire s’inscrit dans une volonté d’approfondir la recherche scientifique de ce phénomène qui pourrait à terme présenter des avantages tant pour l’entreprise que pour ses travailleurs. Notre objectif est d’étudier le fonctionnement concret de ces organisations, au travers de la littérature et des études de cas.
Dans un premier temps, nous définissons théoriquement le concept d’entreprise libérée. Il s’inscrit dans une évolution constante du management qui tend à replacer l’humain au centre de l’attention et à s’éloigner des organisations hiérarchisées et autoritaires. Nous reprenons également ses caractéristiques, à savoir l’importance de la culture d’entreprise et le changement dans l’organisation. Nous apparentons pour finir l’entreprise libérée aux pratiques de gestion définies par Mintzberg (la division du travail et les mécanismes de coordination).
La deuxième partie reprend une analyse qualitative de six entreprises belges ayant adopté le modèle. Les entretiens nous ont permis d’étudier le fonctionnement de l’entreprise libérée sous trois aspects. Nous avons d’abord évalué dans quelle mesure les pratiques mises en place dans ces entreprises correspondent aux caractéristiques théoriques. Les résultats montrent que les entreprises ne sont pas toutes égales dans la mise en place du modèle. Ensuite, nous avons constaté une certaine évolution des processus décisionnels R.H., ce qui s’inscrit dans la libération de l’entreprise. Enfin, nous avons relevé deux difficultés rencontrées par les entreprises au niveau de la législation du travail : la présence syndicale et la motivation du licenciement pour non-adéquation du travailleur aux valeurs de l’entreprise. Over the past years, the business world has been facing several challenges such as society’s growing complexity and workers’ lack of motivation. More and more authors, including Laloux, Getz and Vanhée, note that the pyramidal hierarchy is now unable to solve complex issues and satisfy the employees’ need for recognition and self-fulfillment. Yet, such needs are required for daily motivation and increased productivity at work. In this context, was born the liberated company concept: « A corporation founded on the responsibility and freedom in which most of the personnel takes himself the decisions they judge beneficial for the company. » (Getz, 2016, back cover).
The writing of this paper aims at deepening the scientific research on the matter which could, in the long run, offer various advantages for both the corporation and its workers. Our goal is to study the practical way these organizations operate, through scientific literature and case studies.
First of all, we define the concept of liberated company. It takes place in the constant evolution of management, which tends to replace human at the center of attention and moves away from authoritarian and hierarchical organizations. We discuss its characteristics, such as the importance of corporate culture and change management within the organization. Finally, we compare the liberated company with the management practices as defined by Mintzberg (work division and coordination mechanisms).
The second part includes a qualitative analysis of six Belgian companies which have adopted the model. The interviews have allowed us to study the liberated company under three aspects. Firstly, we have evaluated up to what point do the practices used in these companies correspond with the theoretical characteristics. The results show that not all companies are equal in terms of implementation of the model. Then, we have noticed an evolution in the H.R decision processes, which matches with the liberation of the entity. In the end, we raised two legal labor challenges that these companies face: the presence of a workers’ council and the worker’s termination for non-adoption of the values of the company.

entreprise libérée --- management participatif --- innovation managériale --- culture d'entreprise --- pratiques de gestion --- organisation de l'entreprise --- prise de décision --- liberatedcompany --- participative management --- managerial innnovation --- corporate culture --- management practices --- decision-making --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Gestion de l'entreprise & théorie des organisations --- Droit, criminologie & sciences politiques > Droit social