Post-acquisition integration process: use a stick or a carrot? A sensemaking-sensegiving perspective

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) are a relevant phenomenon in global eco-nomic scenario. Expected value is realized inM&As, first, if there is a well-executed integration; strategic goals are realized the moment a deal closes, but financial goals require a subsequent effort. Research on post-acquisition integration processes, which gained traction in the late 1980s, has ever since attracted broad research in-terest. The aim of this paper is to analyse a case study of the post-acquisition inte-gration process from a sensemaking-sensegiving perspective. The case study is ex-plorative and longitudinal in nature and it illustrates a situation, whereas a procedural integration between two firms is achieved at the expense of human integration. The following question guides this research: How do sensemaking and sensegiving un-fold in the first period (i.e., 100 days) of a post-acquisition integration process? Add-ing to the extant literature on post-acquisition integration, the analysis demonstrates the importance of reconciling sensemaking trajectories to avoid contradictions be-tween acquiring and acquired companies’ perspectives, and it identifies triggers that enable divergent sensemaking.