Mastering M&A Narratives

This book reimagines mergers and acquisitions as emotionally charged, narrative-driven processes rather than linear business events. Challenging traditional models that separate pre- and post-acquisition phases, it introduces a dynamic framework that emphasizes the sequence and emotional impact of acquisition-related communications. At its core is a focus on middle managers—key yet often overlooked actors—whose emotional responses to evolving narratives shape the success or failure of an acquisition.

The book captures the systemic-constructivist emphasis on relational, process-oriented, and meaning-centered approaches to managing change—especially in the emotionally charged context of M&A—contrasting with more linear, control-driven frameworks.

Drawing on national and global case studies, the book explores how fear, hope, anxiety, and relief emerge from how and when messages are delivered. It proposes a shift from sole authorship, typically attributed to acquiring CEOs, to a model of contributorship where both acquiring and target CEOs co-author the acquisition story. This shift enhances narrative legitimacy, coherence, and emotional alignment.

The book introduces a circular storytelling model, showing how acquisition narratives are not isolated events but evolving sequences that influence and respond to stakeholder emotions over time.Through a systemic and constructivist lens, it offers practical insights for structuring emotionally intelligent communication strategies that support smoother transitions and long-term integration.

Compelling for scholars and practitioners alike, this work bridges theory and practice with a systemic approach, redefining M&A success with a resource orientation and solution focus building on the power of story and emotion. In a field hungry for quick fixes, this is a radical—and deeply humane—stance.

• Focus on narratives and M&A as a cyclical process
• Offers a deeply human stance with a positive, solution-focused view
• Contains specially designed systemic reflection opportunities

Veronika Sweet lives in Munich with her Canadian–German family and happily navigates the wonderfully ambiguous landscapes of complex organisational development, often across languages and cultures. A committed multiperspective thinker, her path includes three academic degrees in three countries and a doctorate on narratives and emotions in mergers and acquisitions. She works, teaches, and researches from a systemic perspective in coaching, supervision, and organisational development, with a particular passion for processes in which people experience themselves as capable, and meaningfully involved.