Managing Mergers of Human Service Agencies: People, Programs, and Procedures.

The article sets forth detailed guidelines for mergers of human service agencies deduced from the literature and the findings of a survey of 16 large and small mergers. A merger of organizations into a new corporate unit can be one of the more drastic alterations that occur in the workplace. Employees perceive these changes as a threat to personal job security and job satisfaction. A survey was conducted in 1987, in which a 20-page questionnaire was sent to 32 human service agencies in the U.S. that were partners in a merger during the years 1973 to 1986. The survey focused on how a merger is implemented relative to finance, governance, organizational structure, public relations, management systems, and service delivery.