Identity: An Instrument for Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are today common options for business survival and development. They imply the adaptation of enterprises to new conditions being one of them, the integration of the enterprises involved in the deal. That integration is achieved through strategic actions in organizational processes and structures, as well as through the management of the subjective conditions that support human performance. One of these conditions is the individual and team identities. The identity plays a crucial mediating role in the adaptation and integration because the mutual acknowledgment of the self and the other in any social interaction has the power to influence the social interaction. The acknowledgment of “Who am I?” or “Who are you?” is a mandatory information of social interactions. The concept of identity is revised in its complexity and applied in the understanding of the integration of teams and individuals in M&As. The chapter ends concluding that the management of M&As comprises management of team and individuals identities.