Turbulent Skies - A Case Study of SAS Braathens

Title: Turbulent Skies – A Case Study of SAS Braathens Date of seminar: 1st June 2006. Course: BUS 809. Master Thesis in International Marketing & Brand Management, 15 ECTS-credits. Authors: Jørgen Fensgård and Christian Larsen. Advisor: Frans Melin, Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Sweden. Keywords: SAS Braathens, mergers and acquisitions, employee behaviour, service quality, internal branding. Thesis purpose: The objective of this master thesis is to analyse employee behaviour in mergers and acquisitions in order to understand how opposing values might affect the delivery of desired service quality. A second objective of this thesis is to create a case meant for learning situations based on the study undertaken. Methodology: The research has a social constructionism point of view in order to understand how employee behaviour is affected by opposing values. A combination of case study and history research design was chosen in order to study historical data from the early stage of the merger between SAS and Braathens. Data was collected from a database (Retriever) containing more than 5 million articles from the 21 largest and most important newspapers in Norway. More than 7000 articles were scanned through headline and abstract in order to find the most relevant information. An unstructured interview was conducted with pilots in cockpit by one of the authors on a SAS Braathens-flight. Theoretical perspective: Theory starts by explaining the human aspects and reactions in mergers and acquisitions. Further service management is discussed together with the importance of employee behaviour and alignment of values in service businesses. At last the definition and concept of internal branding is discussed in order to be seen in relation to mergers and acquisitions. Empirical data: Case study of SAS Braathens conducted through a document study. Conclusions: Opposing values affect employee behaviour through affecting and strengthening psychological effects. Opposing values hinder employees to deliver the organizations desired service quality due to anxiety, distress, anger and frustration. Internal branding explained as an effective tool in aligning values in mergers and acquisitions. Consistency needed to acculturate and align the organizational cultures