Dans un premier temps, nous avons effectué une revue de la littérature portant sur la notion de confiance pour connaître les différents éléments ayant une influence dans le processus de mise en confiance. Les articles que nous avons recensés ont été classés en fonction de quatre grandes approches: 1) sociale; 2) interpersonnelle; 3) interpersonnelle en organisation et 4) organisationnelle. Par la suite, les différentes variables proposées par ces approches ont été analysées pour nous permettre de réaliser une modélisation de la mise en confiance dans une perspective communicationnelle. Le modèle ainsi développé nous a permis de poser notre question de recherche: «Quelle est la contribution des différents éléments de la communication, tels que perçus par le participant, qui aident ou non au processus de mise en confiance lors d'une F/A?».

Les recherches portant sur la notion confiance étant peu nombreuses, nous avons choisi d'utiliser une approche exploratoire dans cette étude de cas. Ainsi, nous avons réalisé des entrevues semi-dirigées auprès de 15 employés provenant de trois entreprises différentes récemment impliquées dans une même F/A. Ce type d'entrevue a été retenu pour favoriser l'émergence des interprétations personnelles des individus interrogés.

Les résultats de notre recherche permettent d'obtenir davantage d'informations sur le processus communicationnel de la mise en confiance lors d'une F/A. En effet, nous observons que la confiance des employés varie en fonction de leur confiance en leurs capacités personnelles et de la qualité de leurs relations interpersonnelles avec les autres membres de l'organisation (niveau micro). Nous avons aussi observé que le niveau de confiance variait selon les micro-contextes, ce qui nous a amené à proposer une typologie des micro-contextes organisationnels présents dans la F/A étudiée: 1) les consentants; 2) les accueillants; 3) les hostiles et 4) les contestataires.

Finalement, nous notons que la communication au niveau interpersonnel (patron immédiat et collègues) permet de générer davantage de confiance que celle de niveau organisationnel (échange entre les employés et la direction). Cela s'explique par le fait que la proximité favorise des contacts plus fréquents entre un employé, son patron immédiat et ses collègues de travail.

Mots clés: Communication, Fusion/Acquisition, Changement, Confiance

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