To better understand the phenomenon of opinion
leadership within the context of organizational
change, a study of employees was conducted across
two banks in the midst of a corporate merger.
Qualitative and quantitative data on organizational
culture and employee self-report and other-reported
attitudes and personality are analyzed from
interviews and survey questionnaires. Results
suggest significant differences in midmerger change
attitudes between legacy banks. Employees of the
dominant bank were more likely to describe their
referent organizational opinion leaders (OOL) with
workrelated terms, whereas employees of the
dominated bank were more likely to describe their
respective opinion leaders with interpersonal terms
expressing positive affect. Neither the strength of
influence wielded by organizational opinion leaders
(OOL), nor the leadership style of OOL differed
between banks. However, a multi-level analysis
suggests OOL job performance predicts OOL strength
of influence.
leadership within the context of organizational
change, a study of employees was conducted across
two banks in the midst of a corporate merger.
Qualitative and quantitative data on organizational
culture and employee self-report and other-reported
attitudes and personality are analyzed from
interviews and survey questionnaires. Results
suggest significant differences in midmerger change
attitudes between legacy banks. Employees of the
dominant bank were more likely to describe their
referent organizational opinion leaders (OOL) with
workrelated terms, whereas employees of the
dominated bank were more likely to describe their
respective opinion leaders with interpersonal terms
expressing positive affect. Neither the strength of
influence wielded by organizational opinion leaders
(OOL), nor the leadership style of OOL differed
between banks. However, a multi-level analysis
suggests OOL job performance predicts OOL strength
of influence.