EMPLOYEE ADJUSTMENT TO AN ORGANIZATIONAL MERGER - STRESS, COPING AND INTERGROUP DIFFERENCES

The present study was designed to test the utility of a stress-coping model of employee adjustment to organizational change. The model was b ased on the view that an understanding of the determinants of employee adjustment to this type of work stress lies in gaining knowledge abou t the event characteristics, how the event is appraised, the coping st rategies used in response to the change and the extent of the employee 's coping resources (neuroticism and social support). Data were collec ted from 662 fleet staff (mainly pilots) employed in a newly merged ai rline company. Structural equation analyses provided support for the r ole of each of the components of the proposed model of employee adjust ment-as expected, there was some evidence that both situational apprai sals and coping responses mediated the effects of the event characteri stics and coping resources on adjustment. Adopting an intergroup persp ective, the research was also designed to compare the situational appr aisals, coping responses and adjustment of the employees of the two pr emerger companies (a domestic and an international airline). In accord with predictions derived from social identity theory, the employees o f the premerger domestic company had the most positive reactions to th e merger, presumably because the merger offered them the opportunity t o improve their social identity.