This qualitative phenomenological research explores the lived experiences and perceptions of the employee stakeholders regarding leadership during mergers and acquisitions. At the integration phase, it becomes paramount for the organization and its leadership to identify and impart best of class leadership practices and communication to ensure success of the merger (Dauber, 2012). This research examined three areas: a) the perceptions of newly acquired employees that are specific to the level at which communications with those employees take place; b) the content of communication between leadership and the employees of the acquired organization; and c) the leadership style of organizational leaders that participate in the integration process that contributes to the success or failure of the merger or the acquisition being studied (Stahl, Chua & Pablo, 2012). This qualitative methodology gathered data through an interview process, which focused on 27 members of the acquired businesses to gain their perspective of the influence of leadership during integration. The examination of leadership was important to the study because it identified traits and characteristics that contributed to the eventual outcome of the merger and acquisition. The seven key findings of this research were: 1) the importance of the initial communication to the affected employees; 2) transitioning corporate loyalty from the old leadership to the new; 3) continuing frequent communications from the new leadership team and not letting a communication void develop; 4) creating an environment for internal stakeholder engagement; 5) ensuring the presence of a strong and engaged human resource department; 6) maintaining and enhancing the local culture; and 7) having strong local leadership in place. The significance of this study was to identify distinct opportunities for the leadership to improve communications during future acquisitions as described through the lived experiences of newly acquired employees.
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