In order to complete my studies, I have to conduct a research and write a thesis as part of my Master’s degree in Intervention et changement organisationnel (Intervention and change management), one of the programs offered by the business administration faculty of the University of Sherbrooke. I would like my thesis to focus on knowledge transfer in the context of an acquisition.
In order to initiate my thesis project, a research field had to be stabilised. Different organisations in different sectors were a possibility and it came down to a recent acquisition in the education sector. Their interest to participate in my research has been confirmed. In order to participate, the client calls for a full level of anonymity.
The client is a school board in the province of Alberta, they recently acquired a private biblical school in a major city in Alberta. This school year, meaning 2015/2016, is their first year as one organisation. Many changes have been brought upon the private school’s set-ups and on miscellaneous levels.
The research and its making will be conducted under the supervision of professor Julie Béliveau from the University of Sherbrooke.
Organisational change is mindful effort implemented in order to modify a state of affairs that is often considered as unsatisfactory. This change is implemented by a series of choices and orchestrations coming from a systematic analysis of an existing situation. This shoulders de facto that the reflection itself was not focused only on the content of the unsatisfactory situation, but also on different analytical processes and pros and cons. Thus organizational change is about revising and transforming management structures and business processes through various means. organisations need to acclimate in order to survive in the industry.
As mentioned above, change can be brought along in several forms, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A). A merger is a grouping of two companies to work together as tow organisation equally present that form a new company, however an acquisition is the procurement of one organisation by another, in this case no new company is formed. Often during a M&A there is a whole process of knowledge transfer that takes place.
Knowledge transfer is known to be the practical problematic of transferring knowledge within and organisation or in other cases from one organisation to another. Comparable to knowledge management, knowledge transfer seeks to consolidate, generate, internment or hand out knowledge and ensure its availability for future users, for the good of the organisation.
Change happens and needs to be managed in different industries and sectors, one sectors that interests us in the context of this research is the educational sectors. The education system keeps changing on various levels, academically or organizationally. Private school boards and public school boards work completely differently. During the summer of 2015, a public school board acquired a private biblical school. Negotiations took place during the month of July 2015.
The biblical School, a full-time private school, was founded in 1992 in the city of Calgary. With two campuses, 1 300 students and 100 employees, the school offers education services on all the levels, from kindergarten school up to 12th grade in high school.
Public school board was founded in 1995. All of this throughout the consolidation of two parent school boards. Palliser’s serves from the area of Coaldale to the city of Calgary. Also all the faith-based alternative programs are under Palliser’s programs. For 2015-2016 the anticipated enrolment is about 8 100 students, in 15 community schools, 8 Christian faith-based schools, alternative programs for Low German-speaking Mennonite students, outreach high schools, 17 Hutterite colony schools and an online school. Now Palliser Regional schools will include CIS after their merger.
There are many research opportunities in the context of this acquisition. The principal objective of this study is to examine knowledge transfer in the context of an acquisition. More specifically, this research proposes a conceptual framework and an empirical examination of how the senior management deals with the knowledge transfer considering the dimensions of proximity (geographical, cognitive, organisation) and management interventions during this recent acquisition.
A praivate biblic school was acquired by a school district.
we want to study the knowledge transfer in the situation of this acquisition.
How does CIS/Palliser’s senior management cope with the knowledge transfer in the context of M&A considering the governance structure and the proximity factors?
Present the related literature related to the context and the problem question.
Part two : This will happen after I collect the data, I intend to collect the data during April/May/June. We will work on this as soon as I finish the collection of DATA.
Complete bibliography for each chapter, if you find reference of Julie Beliveau, please add them.
I have some documents in french, so if I can have a writer who can understand a little bit of french it would be cool.
I will add instructions with time.
we have more then a month for the hole project.