Le rôle des minorités actives dans le processus d'intégration symbiotique post-acquisition. Une étude longitudinale d'une fusion dans le cadre du Grand Paris

In fusion typologies, symbiotic integration is considered as the most optimal and the most difficult to achieve. To better understand how companies manage to promote synergies, we propose a process vision taking into account intergroup dynamics by focusing on active minorities, such as Moscovici (1996) defines them in social psychology. In this article, we approach the acquirer and the acquired entity as a more or less active majority and minority. The levers of synergy, as well as the specific role and contribution of each of the parties, were also explored. For this, we conducted a longitudinal study for two years of a merger / acquisition carried out in the field of urban development. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, nonparticipant observation, and secondary data. We show that the symbiotic integration is not based on a voluntarist approach of the acquirer but depends on the emergence of a new situation in which the members of the acquired entity will have freedom of action. It turns out that the symbiotic process can only take place when the acquirer relinquishes control over the achievement of the objectives. The acquired entity can then move from a logic of compliance with the majority standards of the purchaser, to a minority innovation approach making it possible to mobilize the skills necessary to achieve the objectives of the new component.