Integrating Management Performance Systems into an acquired business, focusing on the tensions it manages from a cultural perspective

Sammanfattning

This study examines how formal performance controls interact with the informal culture of a veterinary clinic after its acquisition by a corporate group. Busco et al.'s (2008) structural-tensions framework and Dent's (1991) cultural lens are used to analyze this post- acquisition integration. In the immediate aftermath, strong vertical oversight with imposed metrics and standardized procedures lead to intensified classic tensions. These reactions underscore Dent's (1991) insight that controls imposed without shared meaning provoke resistance. This study's findings integrate Busco et al.'s (2008) and Dent's (1991) perspectives, showing that post-acquisition control systems operate as an "integrated package" of formal and cultural controls. Successful integration requires aligning corporate performance metrics and profit-oriented ethos with the clinic's professional values. Tensions between vertical vs. lateral, convergence vs. differentiation, and centralization vs. decentralization often remained resolved rather than managed. By highlighting how the employee's identity and subcultures shaped outcomes, this study provides a nuanced understanding of tensions from a cultural perspective effect of tensions.