בין משבר ארגוני למשבר בריאותי: מיזוג ארגונים ללא כוונת רווח כאסטרטגיית התמודדות עם משבר

As a health, social, and economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for civil society organizations (CSOs) to fulfill their social roles and meet their service mission objectives. This paper seeks to examine whether and how the merger of civil society organizations can serve as a strategic way of coping with an organizational crisis caused by an external shock such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We focus on eight case studies of mergers of Israeli CSOs in diverse areas of welfare, disability, social change, and more. Usingin-depth interviews and a survey methodology of senior executives and board members who have participated in the merger process, we explore the motives, barriers, and key processes characterizing these mergers. The findings are organized around three stages in the merging process: pre-merger, when the motives and barriers were examined; merger, where decision-making mechanisms, strategies of coping with conflicts, as well as issues of belonging and identity were examined; and post-merger, where attitudes towards the outcomes of the merger and its success in various organizational areas were assessed. The findings point to a lack of properpreparation and orientation for the merger, the existence of ego struggles between managers and workers, and a need for greater socialization of the employees during the merger process. It also points to the need to plan for and attend to the human capital in nonprofit mergers, to build a shared sense of belonging and solidarity, and to the value of shaping a new and shared organizational culture. We conclude by discussing the importance of mergers as a response to internal-organizational and external-environmental crises.