What is the Contribution and role Played by Human Resources in the Success of Merger and Acquisitions? A Case Study of Tata Corus (2012)

Human Resources and the Tata Corus Merger and Acquisition Dissertation – Tata-Corus, Arcelor-Mittal, Daimler-Chrysler, America online- Time Warner… The phenomenon of Merger and Acquisition has proved to be a very popular means for organizations to achieve growth and promote strategic change, especially during the last two decades. The reason that the concern within organizations has increased lately is because the failure rate for such deals has reached 50% or higher. There have been several researches done on mergers and acquisitions from many different angles.

One aspect that has not been deeply researched is the human resource aspect. Thus the issues of uncertainty, stress management, distrust, and employee turnover have become very serious issues that often arise in such turbulent times of organizational change. People have become the hidden factor in the merger success. This dissertation highlights this important factor.

This dissertation aims to identify the role played by human resource department before, during and after the merger and acquisition process. Signed on 31, January 2007, to become the fifth largest steel producer in the world, the marriage between Indian and British steel company Tata and Corus steel is indeed one of the most remarkable and recent examples of an Indian firm acquiring a British firm. The £6.7 billion Corus takeover is almost 10 times larger than any previous acquisition made by the group or by any Indian company. This dissertation highlights the issues that concern the human side of merger and acquisition and investigates the role played by human factor and how they can be enhanced to bring successful result in merger and acquisition with reference to the Tata and Corus companies.

To be able to answer the main research question, sub-problem questions have to be analyzed and answered to reach good conclusion and to the main problem of the dissertation. These sub-problems are:

• Need to define and explore the concepts of merger and acquisition, the motives behind them, reasons for failure, strategic fit between merger and acquisition and human resources and impact on employees
• Develop a theoretical framework to analyze the practical case
• Describe the Tata – Corus case study
• Analyze the case study with theoretical framework in order to answer the research question of my dissertation
• Finally assess and analyze the human resource influences on mergers and acquisition before, during and after the deal

• 17,000 words – 90 pages in length
• Excellent use of literature
• Good in depth analysis
• Well written throughout
• Includes questionnaire
• Ideal for HRM and business students

1: Introduction
Background
Case Company
Research Question
Outlines of the following chapters

2: Literature Review
Recent trends in Merger and Acquisition Activity
Motives behind Merger and Acquisitions
Why Mergers and Acquisitions fail?
Factors for successful mergers and acquisitions
Changing role of HR in Organizations
Role of HR in Mergers and Acquisitions
Impact of Mergers and Acquisitions on employees
Organizational identification and communication during merger
Role of HR Directors and Top Management
Managing the cultural differences

3: Research Methodology
Research Methods
Research Strategy
Case study
Survey Method
Triangulation
Qualitative and Quantitative research
Collection of Data
Secondary data
Primary Data
Interviews
Questionnaire
Validity
Reliability
Summary

4: Background to the Case Analysis
Tata Company
Making Global Imprints
Corus Company
Motives behind the alliance
Role of Human Resource Management

5: Data Presentation and Analysis
Sample
Interviews
Survey Results

6: Conclusion and Recommendations
Research Findings
Recommendations
Limitations of the Study
Suggestions for further Research

References

Appendix Section