5. Conclusion

This chapter discusses how each of the three cases portrays positive change management following acquisitions, detailing the theoretical and managerial insights that were uncovered. This chapter provides scholars with a map of interrelated emotion concepts and their connection to acquisition research, detailing how concepts such as emotion or emotional identification can be used in high-quality empirical research. This collection of concepts also acts as a guideline in choosing theoretical lenses for different types of acquisition studies considering employee emotions. Furthermore, this chapter highlights the practical guidelines for successful emotion management following acquisitions, detailing crucial points of attention with regard to managers, employee emotions, the emotional climate and identity. Finally, this chapter discusses the key limitations of the book and indicates fruitful future research directions.