Employee Trust after the Merger and Acquisition of TOT and CAT into the National Telecom Public Company Limited

 Yarnaphat Shaengchart, Tanpat Kraiwanit and Somchai Virunhaphol

Abstract

           The Telephone Organisation of Thailand (TOT) and the CAT Telecom Public Company Limited (CAT) were two of Thailand's largest state enterprises in telecommunication. However, since there has been much competition among telecom businesses in Thailand during the past decade, the two operators were likely to incur significant losses. Hence, in January 2020, the Thai government accepted the merger of CAT and TOT to become the National Telecom Public Company Limited (NT). The merger of TOT and CAT into NT has been effective, as evidenced by a large net profit in 2021. Nevertheless, the trust of employees after the merger remains a problem. This study aims to 1) examine the levels of agreement related to the perception of the visions, missions, and core values of the organisation and 2) examine employee trust after TOT and CAT merged to form an NT. This quantitative study employed convenience sampling to collect the data from 480 NT employees. The data were analysed using MANOVA. The results show that the perception regarding NT delivering inclusive communications services and promoting a sustainable digital economy and society showed the highest mean. The perception related to NT enhancing the nation's communication and digital strength and stability is the second highest mean. The perception of NT as a flexible, adaptable, and detached organisation has the lowest mean. Only the employee’s former organisation prior to the merger affects the level of employee trust after the merger of TOT and CAT into the NT. It is recommended that regulators evaluate the pattern of employees' past affiliation culture before a merger. If they adapt their behaviour, employees from disparate departments may be able to integrate and operate together.

Keyword : Employee Trust, Merger and Acquisition, State Enterprise, Telecommunications

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