This paper examines the concept of corporate merger and acquisitions within the Ghanaian business environment. It draws on social penetration theory to provide framework for guiding the planning and implementation of the post-acquisition relationship building. The premise of this paper is that people are the most important component of organizations. However, the memoranda of understanding (MOUs) signed in corporate boardrooms tend to focus more on the asset transfer and pay little attention to the human component. This situation has the tendency to undermine the achievement of the financial objective. As a result, relationship building efforts aimed at assimilating the workforce of both firms is more likely to be a key driver of the success of the post-acquisition integration. In applying the social penetration theory for integration, the dynamics, key issues, and managerial implications are discussed.
Keywords: Ghana, Mergers and Acquisitions, Organizational Development intervention, Parent employees, Post-acquisition integration, Relationship building, Social penetration theory, Target employees
