Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Post-acquisition integration'

LRP is a research journal in the field of strategic management, with a research focus on strategy. The article, titled “Leveraging dynamic capabilities in the post-acquisition integration phase of an acquisition” supports the call by LRP, for research in the field of strategy. In addition, the data collection method of case study methodology is supported by the journal. The journal welcomes research from all parts of the world, and thus a South African setting is suitable for the journal requirement. The journal has published recent articles (2019) in the fields of both post-acquisition integration and dynamic capabilities making this research study a suitable fit.
Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
MBA
Unrestricted

The purpose of this research study was to measure and understand if there was a change in the psychological contract post-acquisition and if so, did this change have a positive, negative or no effect on employee performance. Previous research and literature has suggested that identity was a critical measure of post-acquisition success (2011, p. 26; Weber&Drori, 2011, p. 76) leaving employee performance unmeasured. Rouzies (2011) further suggested that a merger or acquisition can lead to a drop in psychological attachment, identification and commitment to the acquired organisation (2011, p. 25). In addition, Chambers (2008) also made mention of personnel and culture integration being underestimated (p. 16). Therefore, this research has measured psychological contract (identity, culture and communication) in terms of employee performance (potential turnover, job satisfaction and productivity) in the context of post-acquisition integration.The results showed that changes in the psychological contract affect employee performance positively. Equally, if not more, important is maintaining the psychological contract in the post-acquisition integration process and thereby avoiding a drop in employee and acquisition performance.Identity and culture are strong influences of employee performance. The data collected suggested that identity positively impacts employee performance. More specifically, there was a slight positive impact on potential turnover and a more positive impact on job satisfaction and productivity. Culture also positively impacted employee performance. When measured against potential turnover, this impact was slightly positive while job satisfaction and productivity were more positively impacted.Communication was found to be important in reducing potential turnover. From data collected, communication does not impact job satisfaction and productivity. However, the data suggests that communication was adequately handled in the post-acquisition integration process.Recommendations were made dealing with principles to be considered preacquisition, on the importance of minimising disruption and maintaining continuity during post-acquisition. Based on the findings in this research, the psychological contract needs to be maintained in terms of identity, culture and communication. This will in turn ensure that employee performance is maintained post-acquisition. This implies that in addition to financial due-diligence being performed prior to a merger or acquisition, organisations need to be aware of employees’ feelings and attitudes towards the impending change.Future research may look at measuring psychological contract and employee performance in post-acquisition integration across different industries and countries or the same variables could also be measured pre-acquisition. Alternatively, additional variables such as extra-role behaviour and affective commitment could be added to the assessment tool to measure employee performance more closely.
Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
unrestricted

Acquisitions have become an increasingly used tool for corporate growth during the lastdecade. Even so, most acquisitions fail, due to a lack of focus on the human elements of the integration process. This research sheds light on the human integration process of acquisitions and more specifically, three of its critical elements; culture, structure and humanresources management. However, when investigating acquisitions at Atlas Copco it becomesapparent that these elements are emphasized and prioritized differently in differentacquisitions. By conducting 22 interviews with managers from both Atlas Copco and managers and employees from three of its acquired organizations, this paper seeks tounderstand how the acquirer should choose an appropriate human integration strategy and what factors that determine that choice. Furthermore, it examines how the acquirer should manage the employees of the acquired firm to facilitate the implementation of changes duringthe integration process. The results shows that the acquirer choose to emphasize and prioritize the aspects that are most important to reform in order to allow the implementationof future changes in the integration process. In these cases, the prioritized aspects are alsoconsidered critical to improve by the employees, therefore the prioritization creates a perception of the acquirer’s good intentions with the integration as a whole. Furthermore, the results reveals that it is important that the acquirer invest in resources for communication,trainings and additional personnel to help the employees understand and support the changesduring the entire process.

This report highlights the complexity of engaging in a post-acquisition integration process of a relatively large knowledge-intensive firm. Findings from a case study is analyzed in relation to previous theory, resulting in four propositions aiming at creating a foundation for further theory development, as well as increased understanding among practitioners in relation to the emphasized problem. It is argued by the authors that increased relative acquisition size of knowledge-intensive firms will: 1) increase demand for a centralized organizational structure, 2) decrease benefits of introducing a new top management, 3) decrease communicative attention towards lower levels, and 4) decrease attention towards subcultures. These factors will ultimately increase the risk for integration failure.

Although M&A’s have the greatest probability of failure in organizations, the major reasons for this outcome is the integration process. M&As have been a popular strategy for accessing new markets, introducing new products, expanding their knowledge base, and enhancing competitive advantage. In this study, we explore a case of technology acquisition, and we propose a theoretical framework based on literature that identifies phases in post-acquisition process. The process involves three stages: knowledge absorption, operational phase and commercial phase that is explored and evaluated with the empirical data of the case study. Then, thematic analysis was utilized in this study to identify common themes related to the role of acquisition. The related functions and benefits were grouped under acquisition roles. Since the case study was a successful acquisition, it was easy to figure out the roles and dimensions of integration from it. Both the methods contribute in addressing, the necessary phases that need to be organized with integration and deriving different functionalities to achieve common goals. Finally, we present a discussion and bring out the relationships that emerged from this study from different themes and have been mapped to stages in the post-acquisition process, resulting in outcomes from each role. Thus, this study puts an emphasis on the range of factors that create value from successful technological acquisition and conclude as post-acquisition process with integration elements is the initial pivotal position for the consequences.

Whilst recent evidence suggests that the fifth ‘wave’ of global merger and acquisition (M&A) activity is coming to an abrupt end, the growth of M&A activity continued apace throughout the last decade of the twentieth century, with the year 2000 seeing an unprecedented US$3.5 trillion worth of deals worldwide (The Economist, January 25th 2001). Considering the monetary values involved, it is perhaps surprising that only around half of the combinations will deliver the value or savings upon which the deals are justified. Mergers and acquisitions can therefore be deemed extremely risky ventures. In response to this dilemma, this thesis brings together the fields of project risk management and mergers and acquisitions, an overlap that is particularly under-developed in the extant literature. Adopting a grounded theory approach (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Strauss and Corbin, 1998), a four-year worldwide integration programme within a FTSE100 healthcare company was analysed. The research aimed to secure an understanding of the complex dynamics of human actions and interactions relating to the phenomena of risk management whilst developing scenarios during the post-merger and acquisition integration phase. Through the development of a substantive theory of ‘risk bartering’, the research has discovered that whilst operating within a ‘confidentiality bubble’, some individuals were using an (often unfounded) increase or decrease in potential risks for ulterior motives. Rather than, as is the case in contemporary project risk management, the scenarios being developed and then the risks being assessed, the risks were being used to develop and shape the final scenarios. As a result, risks were being transposed from the individual to the organisation. This central finding has the potential to adversely affect the risk efficiency of the organisation, especially where levels of risk management maturity (Hillson, 1997) are ‘naïve’ or ‘novice’. Recommendations are made to ring fence the level of risk bartering, with the view to striking a balance between gaining individual ownership of the resultant change programme and optimising the organisation’s risk efficiency, thereby increasing the chances of a successful integration.

Chief executive officers are very important players in their organizations. They control company’s strategies and structure, and consequently are a crucial factor in its direction and performance. As a result, their replacement can be a critical juncture for organizations. Analyzing a sample of 429 acquisitions that happened between 2001-2007 in Europe and USA, I try to investigate whether or not CEO replacement/retention is more likely or less likely in cross-border acquisitions and how this relation is moderated by such individual characteristics of the CEO as age, tenure, CEO being the founder, multiple roles in the target and education. According to the results, CEOs having multiple roles and a longer tenure have higher chances to depart within three years in case of domestic acquisitions. Moreover, working in the instruments industry and the industry related to computer and office equipment has a positive impact on the CEO turnover within three years as well. The hypotheses regarding the lower CEO turnover rates in cross-border acquisitions comparing to the domestic ones that increase over time were supported.

The objective of this thesis is to provide a comparison of theoretical knowledge, mapping processes in the post-merger integration, including the perspective of professionals and an assessment of the post-merger integration in selected company in terms of achieving the objectives of the integration project. Further objective of the thesis includes an analysis of the integration from the perspective of corporate culture, perception of employees and basic information on analyzed acquisition. The primary benefit is to create a theoretical basis for the integration process for further detailed research and theoretical preparation for the implementation of the post-merger integration. At the practical level following thesis should serve as a general guide on how to proceed in this process. The practical part contains a comprehensive analysis of the integration phase and its impact on the selected company, comparison with the best practices and general recommendations. Furthermore the thesis provides a high level perspective on the acquirer's future development and its long-term profile. Research methods were mainly driven by interviews with the management of the company, analysis of internal documents and questionnaire.

Over the past decades, Chinese firms have become major competitors in the global M&A space. The present thesis examines one of China's largest and most technology-intensive state-owned enterprises and its acquisitions-based internationalization strategy via a qualitative comparative case study-based research design. Contrary to existing research on firm internationalization that focuses on factors external to the firm, this thesis finds that entry mode decisions can be best explained by explanatory variables internal to the firm. In the area of China business studies, this thesis challenges widely held notions of Chinese state-owned enterprise executives and finds that managerial behaviour at these firms can be characterized as largely rational. Extant management scholarship focuses on the efficiency maximizing function of firm-internal markets. This thesis finds that reliance on internal markets is driven by the objective of effectiveness maximization. Internal markets are a critical post-acquisition integration value driver and integral component of a hybrid approach to post-acquisition integration that combines hierarchical and market-based forms of coordination and that challenges the “light touch” concept widely held in China business studies. Extant studies on knowledge transfer highlight capabilities, motivations, and network positioning as explanatory variables for a firm's absorptive capacity. In contrast, this thesis focuses on “failure avoidance” driven managerial behaviour as the main constraint on a firm's ability to exploit knowledge from its acquisitions. This thesis contributes to the literature by i) exploring an understudied empirical setting (i.e. Chinese state-owned enterprise), ii) answering calls for greater research on post-acquisition integration and the underlying firm-internal mechanisms and dynamics below the level of the firm, and iii) by augmenting existing management theoretical concepts (i.e. firm internal dynamics as entry mode determinants, internal markets as post-acquisition integration value drivers, and managerial behaviour as constraint on absorptive capacity).

In the last decade, the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities by emerging market firms has rapidly increased to exploit growing markets at home and abroad. In order to be successful in their M&A goals, these firms need to develop a specific M&A capability and manage post-M&A processes effectively. Drawing on the dynamic capabilities view, I develop a theoretical framework for emerging market acquirers that outlines the development of the acquisition capability mechanisms. I first examine the influence of prior acquisition experience on acquisition performance. I then go on to study the integration capability of emerging market firms and examine the effect of post-M&A integration strategies on the performance of acquisitions by emerging market firms. The overall results indicate that a firm‘s focal acquisition performance positively relates to prior acquisition experience that is similar to the focal acquisition. Moreover, post-M&A integration strategies vary depending on the geographical similarity of the focal acquisition. Replacing the target‘s top manager is a particularly important determinant of acquisition performance in domestic M&A. Finally, in this research, I also extend the organisational learning view and develop a multi-level analysis that examines the role of business groups alongside firm-level learning from acquisitions. The usual focus in emerging market studies is on the big emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). I focus instead on the country case of Turkey, one of the second tier of ―biggish‖ growing economies of ―MIST‖ (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey). The empirical results are based on a unique hand-collected dataset of acquisitions in Turkey culled from publicly available data. The final dataset consists of 279 acquisitions between 1998 and 2011.

The increasing global challenges, such as natural disasters, poverty and many others, pose new threats to societies and businesses. Therefore, companies increase their engagement in Corporate Sustainability (CS), which connects social, environmental and economic responsibilities. Through this approach, CS aims at overcoming environmental and social constraints in a business context to increase competitiveness in today’s fast-changing world. This fast pace, with which the business environment changes, is related to external influences, such as the above-mentioned climate change, and to fundamental structural developments. One of those is the increasing number of emerging-market companies (EMNCs) that internationalize rapidly through cross-border M&A deals, also into developed markets. Since both trends, the increase in CS engagement and the growing international M&A activity of EMNCs, gain in practical and academic importance, we conducted our study under the following research question. How is CS integrated on a strategic level after a cross-border acquisition by an EMNC? The theoretical angle from which we approached the topic aligns with the resource-based view, including the natural-resource-based view, and a stakeholder perspective. When reviewing the literature regarding CS, it became clear that substantial outcomes are still lacking despite an increasing commitment to CS. This difficulty can be linked to the variety of interpretations regarding the conception of CS and the resulting confusion among implicated parties. The review of M&A literature, with a special focus on EMNCs, revealed that these companies deploy a unique approach, which is characterized by the soft post-M&A integration of the target to allow organizational learning within both businesses. Therefore, our empirical research aimed at exploring how the strategic CS of both companies, the target and the parent, influence each other and thus, develop towards a common CS strategy. The longitudinal single case study we selected, allowed us to investigate this research proposal. Through the collection and analysis of documentary data enriched by semi-structured interviews, our study revealed the following. The exchange of knowledge and CS-related communication represented the basis for the integration of strategic CS as it nurtures organizational learning. Consequently, the CS strategies of both companies increased in maturity, which means that their sophistication evolved. In addition, we also found that the target developed towards a more permissive sustainability to align with its parent company’s CS strategy. Our main study contributions relate to an enhancement of the theoretical knowledge in the related fields. Besides this, we also identified critical practical issues, such as the importance of establishing a common conception of CS to ensure a successful CS integration on a strategic level.

The acquisition and successful integration strategies of companies is of particular interest given the significant numbers of acquisition failures: over 65% of acquired companies are either sold or divested within the first two years of new ownership (Dooley & Zimmerman, 2003). The cost of a failed acquisition can run into tens of millions of euros. If acquisition is important as a means of growth than are there means available to increase the chances of success? Acquisition as primary source of inorganic growth is important within the high-tech sector as this allows the acquiring company to obtain critical new technologies and products as well as access new or adjacent markets (Marks & Mirvis, 2001). In acquiring a high-technology company the acquirer is, in essence, buying the extrinsic and intrinsic knowledge resident with the acquired staff (Chaudhuri & Tabrizi, 1999). Whilst the extrinsic knowledge may be captured in documentation and drawings it is the intrinsic knowledge that may well be critical for realisation of the full value of the acquisition. This key knowledge is normally held by a small number of the acquired staff (Wooldridge, 2006). If these key staff members then, as a result of either the acquisition itself, or the ensuing integration, become unsettled or unwilling to remain in employment with the acquiring company then this knowledge is at risk. The exodus of thesekey staff members could well significantly devalue the purchase and, in extreme cases, could render the acquisition a failure (Hacker, 2003). At the point of acquisition the only initial legal safeguard to retaining the critical staff members is their contracts of employment. The uncertainty caused by the acquisition and subsequent integration could cause the staff member to reassess his or her role in the new organisation and decide to leave the company (Krug, 2003). If sufficient key staff leave the company the damage may be significant. The challenge of retaining these key staff members at acquisition and, subsequently, through and beyond the integration process is thus critical, particularly for hightech' companies (Chaudhuri & Tabrizi, 1999). Given the terms of employment are initially deemed to be satisfactory by the acquirer, what other measures can be put in place to ensure the retention of these key people in the new organisation? This research explores aspects of trust, its definition, development and role in the postacquisition integration context of the high-tech electronics area and whether trust could be one of the factors that influenced key staff to remain with the acquired company in two different geographic locations. The practical outcome was the development and production of a number of trust measurement tools that were first utilised and then supplied to the case study companies for ongoing use for both post-acquisition integration and also general monitoring The research was undertaken, consequently, driven by the need to explore conditions and contingencies of trust that may provide important new knowledge that can be utilised to assist with attempting to understand the role of trust in the context of high-tech company acquisitions. Two case studies at two separate geographical locations (in two countries) within a leading edge technology company have been completed. These studies were both designed to be longitudinaland multilevel in nature, encompassing both the relationship from staff to management and from management to staff. A further aspect that has been explored is the relationship between `head office' senior management and the geographically remote acquired company management. Full access has been granted to all staff and management constituting an excellent data gathering opportunity. A numbero f trust measurementto ols haveb eenr evieweda nd severals electedf or use (Gillespie, 2003, Spreitzer & Mishra, 1999). However, examination of the literature concerning trust measurement has indicated there is some absence of suitable tools that can measure trust spanning from a belief trust base (where the trustor believes he/she can trust the trustee) through to trust informed actions (Dietz & Den Hartog, 2006). This lack of appropriate means of measurement has led to development of two further trust measurement tools that will span this range of trust. To add to the value of the studies, as mentioned above, several points of trust measurement were carried out. Longitudinal trust measurement was selected on the basis of seeking to establish trust trends and possibly related management actions. Data has been collected over three years. Data has been gathered through surveys and semi-structured interviews to afford a mixed method quantitative/qualitative approach. The thesis contains an extensive review of the trust literature, describes the reasons for choice of the above mentioned methodology and reports results of analysis on the data collected to-date. The study concludes with discussion of the potential contingencies that can be undertaken by management in order to both monitor and maintain trust levels, the limitations of the research and areas for further study

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have become an important business strategy to help improve organizational performance. M&As have been identified as one of the key strategies to help organizations compete in the global economy and have become attractive business strategies widely adopted and utilized among industries and global businesses. From the employee perspective, a merger or acquisition event can create uncertainty, changes and job losses. The literature suggests that some mergers and acquisitions fail not so much because of financial factors but more often because of the lack of integration of organizational cultures and other human factors. There is general agreement among some authors that studying human factors, rather than just M&A financial factors, provides a far better understanding of M&As' successes and failures. Research on M&As suggests that managers should encourage employees to support an organizational (or collective) identity in order to maximize the positive outcome of M&As. Through an extensive systematic review of the literature and an evidence based research methodology, this dissertation critically analyzed and examined the following questions: 1) How does the process of cultural integration during the post-merger and acquisition (M&A) period impact the performance outcome of M&As, specifically, on employee commitment, employee turnover rates and employee job satisfaction? 2) What is the impact of employee identification with the organization in the M&A's organizational cultural integration process? 3) What is the effect of leaders' communication on employee identification with the organization during the post-M&A cultural integration period? Based on the findings from the systematic review of the literature, the research questions are addressed and recommendations for ensuring successful post-merger and acquisition (M&A) cultural integration are presented.

Abstract Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is an important economic phenomenon, utilized by companies to expand their market share and achieve rapid growth. However, studies imply that a majority of M&As fail to deliver anticipated value, which has led to a vast amount of research investigating why. Failing to integrate the cultures of the merging firms has been identified as a common cause to unsuccessful deals. Achieving scalability, namely adding revenue exponentially while only increasing costs incrementally, places high demands on an organization, including the culture. Achieving scale is a commonly sought synergy effect of horizontal merger integrations. There is however a lack of research-based advice on how to overcome cultural challenges when pursuing cross-border merger integrations, with the objective to scale. This study was conducted with a Swedish SaaS firm as the commissioning body. The firm was, at the time of the initiation of this thesis project, about to commence the post-acquisition integration with an acquired German competitor, which invited to an interesting research setting. While organizational culture is an area covered by vast research, the combination of scalability and M&A integration is not. This thesis aims to explore the intersection between M&A integration, business scalability and organizational culture. Using a mixed methods approach by combining semi-structured interviews and surveys, the Competing Values Framework (CVF) was applied to diagnose the two firms’ corporate cultures. Additional data was gathered from external subject-matter experts in the field of M&A to increase reliability and validity of the results. The results showed discrepancies between the organizational cultures of the studied companies, as well as between management and employees. What also became evident was the employees’ different opinions of the ongoing merger, with acquired firm being noticeably more negative towards it. One key finding from the study was the importance of employee buy-in when integrating two companies, both to keep momentum and to avoid employee churn. When integrating two cultures, different motivational approaches might be needed to achieve commitment from different culture types. The study further showed positive signs towards the CVF being fruitfully applied on an ongoing integration, making it a possible management tool to assess and approach cultural discrepancies in an efficient and timely manner.
Expansion genom fusioner och förvärv (eng. Mergers and Acquisitions, M&A) är ett vanligt förekommande komplement till organisk tillväxt. Förvärvsprocesser leder till omedelbar tillväxt, varför M&A blivit en naturlig del i många bolags tillväxt- och expansionsstrategi. Många bolagsfusioner misslyckas dock med att uppnå förväntad värdeökning, vilket har lett till ett starkt intresse för att utreda varför så många fusioner misslyckas. En vanlig orsak till varför förväntade synergier inte lyckas realiseras är kulturella skillnader mellan parterna. En bolagssammanslagning innebär även en sammanslagning av kulturer, och en lyckad integrering av företagskulturerna har visat sig kritiskt för att fusionen ska ta hem uppsatta mål. Företagskultur och dess påverkan på fusionsprocessen är därför ett väl utforskat område. Skalbarhet, en exponentiell ökning av intäkter men endast en inkrementell ökning av kostnader, är en ofta sökt synergieffekt till M&A-processer, då bolagens värde och värdegenererandekapacitet anses öka efter en sammanslagning än var för sig. Det verkar dock saknas riktlinjer grundade i forskning om hur bolag ska övervinna kulturella utmaningar under fusionsprocessen, när målet är att nå skalbarhet. Denna uppsats syftar till att utforska skärningspunkten mellan fusionsprocessen, skalbarhet och företagskultur. Studien är på en fallstudie av två entreprenöriella, mindre bolag under en pågående internationell fusionsprocess. Ramverket Competing Values Framework (CVF) applicerades som ett medel för att identifiera likheter och diskrepanser mellan bolagen. En kombination av forskningsmetoder användes; semistrukturerade intervjuer och enkäter i enighet med CVF, intervjuer med experter inom M&A samt workshops och observationer på plats hos köpande bolag under integrationsprocessen. Resultaten visar på stora kulturella skillnader företagen sinsemellan, och en viss diskrepans mellan de anställda och ledningsgruppens uppfattning om kulturen. Det visade sig också att de anställda hade väldigt olika uppfattning om den pågående bolagsintegrationen, där anställda från det ena företaget var märkbart mer negativt inställda. En viktig slutsats är att företagsledare måste ta sig an rollen som kulturbärare under förändringsprocessen och att företagskulturen måste gå i linje med såväl strategi som extern miljö för att främja framgång. Vidare visar resultaten på vikten av att anpassa kommunikation och budskap efter rådande kultur och att det påverkar de anställdas villighet att stödja förändring. Studien presenterar förslag på hur företagsledare, ledningsgrupper, styrelser och investerare bör adressera kulturella aspekter i en pågående bolagssammanslagning när skalbarhet också ska beaktas. Dessutom kunde troliga bevis presenteras på att ramverket CVF kan appliceras som verktyg för att adressera kultur under en pågående bolagsintegration.

The amount of acquisitions has been increasing over the last decades and has been used as a growth strategy by firms all over the world. However, more than fifty percent of all acquisitions never deliver the initially expected value, which in many cases is due to poor integration management of the organizational culture in the post-acquisition phase. Where, in contrast, acquisitions which are integrated into the organizational culture of the acquirer, can see a decrease in social conflicts and receive a higher employee commitment. Which in turn can help the acquisition to provide and remain its human capital and value.  With the support of a Swedish business consulting firm, this study hopes to shed light upon how firms integrate organizational culture in the post-acquisition phase, and which integration management tools are used in the process. This study uses a single opportunistic case study combined with a qualitative and an inductive approach, to gather and handle the data. Where the empirical data was mainly collected through interviews. The results of this thesis show that integration of organizational culture in the post-acquisition phase, is mainly managed through supportive leadership and training, in the business consulting firm. Where those main management activities consist of several different integration management tools.

Problem: Communication is critical but neglected and underestimated by leaders during PAI, which is furthermore considered a key reason for acquisition failure. In connection to this problem is the lack of case studies conducted on cross-border M&A. This study therefore attempts to bridge this gap by doing a qualitative multiple case study on four global Swedish cross-border acquirers. Purpose: This thesis investigates how Swedish cross-border acquirers utilize leadership communication in the execution of PAI, if there are key challenges within this scope and how they could be managed based on theoretical guidelines. Method: To achieve the purpose the method of this study is based on an explanatory abductive approach with an interpretivist research paradigm. Furthermore, qualitative research has been conducted in the form of collecting primary data through semi-structured interviews with five firm leaders with experience of PAI working for global Swedish cross-border acquirers. Furthermore, this study includes a pre-study on management consulting firms working with PAI. Secondary data is collected from annual reports and other information from the firms’ websites. Finally, the empirical findings are thematically analysed through testing the conceptual framework. Results: The results of this study highlights implications in the form of seven sub-themes needed to be managed by leaders utilizing communication for successful PAI. Furthermore, based on this sample, Swedish cross-border acquirers are generally equipped with how to utilize communication from leaders in PAI. However, results also highlight that neglecting PAI leads to negative results.
Problem: Kommunikation är kritiskt men försummat och underskattat av ledare under PAI, vilket dessutom anses vara en viktig anledning till förvärvsmisslyckande. I koppling till detta problem råder det även brist på fallstudier inom cross-border M&A. Denna studie försöker därför fylla detta gap genom att genomföra en kvalitativ flerfallstudie på fyra globala svenska cross-border förvärvare. Syfte: Denna studie undersöker hur svenska cross-border förvärvare nyttjar ledarskapskommunikation vid genomförandet av PAI, om det finns nyckelutmaningar inom detta tillämpningsområde samt hur dessa kan hanteras baserat på teoretiska riktlinjer. Metod: För att uppnå syftet är metoden i denna studie baserad på ett förklarande abduktivt tillvägagångssätt med ett interpretivistiskt forskningsparadigm. Dessutom har kvalitativ forskning genomförts i form av insamling av primärdata genom utförandet av semi-strukturerade intervjuer med fem ledare med erfarenhet av PAI som arbetar för globala svenska cross-border förvärvare. Fortsättningsvis inkluderar denna studie en förstudie på managementkonsultbolag som arbetar med PAI. Sekundärdata har samlats in från årsredovisningar och annan information från firmornas hemsidor. Slutligen analyseras det empiriska resultatet i form av en tematisk analys genom att testa det konceptuella ramverket. Resultat: Resultaten av denna studie upplyser implikationer i form av sju underteman som behöver hanteras av ledare genom kommunikation för framgångsrik PAI. Vidare, baserat på detta urval av svenska cross-border förvärvare är att de är generellt välrustade med hur de kan hantera kommunikation från ledare inom PAI. Dock visar resultatet även på att försummad PAI leder till negativa resultat.

One respondent opted to not take part of the study just prior to publication. This means that the uploaded version of this thesis is without one of the case firms.

En respondent valde att inte vara en del av studien precis innan publicering. Detta innebär att den uppladdade versionen av detta examensarbete är utan ett fallföretag.

Abstract

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) have been around for a long time and has experienced waves of popularity during these times and they are very much an important part of today’s business world. M&As have also become increasingly international which can be due to the rising global competition. The popularity of cross-border M&As makes it important to look at M&As from an international perspective. One of the main reasons a company choose to M&A is growth (Lees, 2003) and there are several possible motives why a company chooses to grow through an M&A but the most common motive is to create synergy (DePhamphilis, 2005). Although synergy is one motive, according to the literature more M&As destroy value instead of creating it (Habeck, et al. 2000). This makes this subject interesting to study: especially the post-M&A phase since the integration process in this phase has been pointed out to be the riskiest, when creating synergy, but also the most crucial in order for a successful M&A (Habeck, et al. 2000; Shaver, 2006).

Purpose:

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how the management of a company create and realize synergies in the post-M&A process of a cross-border M&A.

Method:

In order to fulfil the purpose the case study approach was chosen. The empirical data was gathered through semi-structured face-to–face (except two telephone) interviews. This approach was used because the information needed to fulfil the purpose was of the character to be found in a qualitative way by going in-depth into the field of interest with a management team with extensive knowledge in this subject.

Conclusion:

Creating and realizing synergies is a long process on average 5-10 years. There is no manual for the M&A process only a general approach and each M&A process is customized. It was found that one cannot separate the pre-deal phase from the post-phase. An M&A process includes three different important parts; the strategic intent phase, the due diligence phase, and finally the integration phase. Key success factors for conducting an M&A are that you set up a special management group which will focus on the creation and realisation of synergies and that one focus on motivating and assisting managers through offer new exiting challenges.

Background: In the context of rapid market development and globalization, the role of corporate governance has become crucial in determining firm’s direction, control and performance. No substantial investigation has been made to explain the role of corporate governance in the context of widely used strategy for organizational growth – mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Acquisitions of distressed firms represent a particular area within the field of M&A. Distressed firms are characterized by existence-threatening decline in financial performance, and therefore, require  special attention from corporate governance actors in turning the company around from bankruptcy and resuming its normal operations. Despite the fact that a substantial body of literature has been developed on turnaround theory during the last four decades, researchers have mostly been focusing on the content of turnaround strategies and have been studying the cases of single firms. Aim: The purpose of this master thesis is to provide a better conception of the role of corporate governance mechanisms in managing the turnaround process in the context of a distressed firm after its acquisition by a foreign company, and the necessity for corporate executives in initiating post-acquisition integration between these merged companies.  Completions and results: A model of corporate governance within the context of international acquisitions of distressed firms was designed. According to the model, corporate governance mechanisms should assure close communication, clear leadership and its continuity, vision and proper choice of the corporate governance actors. Moreover, corporate governance should reinforce post-acquisition integration between the distressed company and the acquirer. It is important to find a proper level of integration according to each particular case. The major focus in international acquisitions should be on managerial and socio-cultural integration. Consequently, proper post-acquisition integration can facilitate the turnaround process and gaining synergies from combining two organizations.

In this study, we test the assumption that the way target firm employees respond to a takeover is contingent on their national origin. The antecedents of target firm member trust in the acquiring firm management were examined in a cross-national sample of German and Singaporean employees using a policy-capturing design. Five factors hypothesized to affect target firm member trust after a takeover were found to be significant influences on employees' trust judgments in a decision-making simulation: (i) combining firms' collaboration history, (ii) mode of takeover, (iii) whether it was a domestic or cross-border acquisition, (iv) degree of autonomy removal, and (v) attractiveness of the acquiring firm's human resource policies and reward system. Further analyses suggest that the relative importance of these factors in predicting target firm employees' reactions to a takeover varies depending on their national origin. We conclude that companies engaged in cross-border acquisitions need to consider contingencies in the cultural and institutional contexts in which the acquired firms are embedded and adapt their approaches for integrating them accordingly.

The problem areas of the 'human side' of mergers andacquisitions as well as post-merger integration are focusedupon in this study. An extensive review of merger-relatedliterature points to the problematic nature of this area oforganisation. Through the analysis of two international casemergers, their post-merger integration processes and theirproblem areas, the nature and causes of these problem areas areinvestigated. The results of the investigation indicate thatexpectations influence mergers and post-merger integration.What seems to be expected of mergers, post-merger integration,of the management of these processes as well as the involvedparties plays a role in the interpretation of and reaction tomerger-related occurrences. If expectations of a merger or anyof its specific features are not met, attitudes towards themerger can get increasingly negative. This evidentlynecessitates 'expectation management' within mergers and theirpost-merger integration processes.

KEY WORDS: merger, acquisition, post-merger integration,'human side' of organisations, expectation, experience, casestudy, emergent theory

Les intégrations post-acquisitions up-market de multinationales émergentes (EMNE) dans des économies avancées ont été peu étudiées empiriquement. Cette recherche dresse une typologie des approches mises en œuvre suite à 25 acquisitions en France d’EMNE de 13 pays différents, et analyse les déterminants de leurs choix. L’approche partenariale est majoritairement adoptée, sous diverses modalités dynamiques, mais elle n’est pas systématique. La diversité des types d’intégration révèle l’influence de l’effet du pays d’origine des EMNE sur leurs décisions stratégiques. Cet effet est exploré sous l’angle des héritages administratifs des EMNE, précisément leurs imaginaires stratégiques et politiques qui influencent leur représentation des opportunités du contexte géo-économique global
Few studies empirically addressed emerging multinationals (EMNE) integrations following up-market acquisitions in advanced economies countries. This research establishes a typology of the approaches adopted after 25 acquisitions in France by EMNE from 13 different countries, and analyses the antecedents of their choices. Partnering approach is predominantly adopted, with several dynamic forms, but is not systematic. The diversity of integration types reveals the significance of EMNE country-of-origin effect on their strategic decisions. This effect is investigated through EMNE administrative heritages, precisely their strategic and political imagination which influence their representation of the global geoeconomics context

Building on behavioural theory with dynamic capabilities, I have studied how firms create competitive advantage through innovation over time after multiple mergers and acquisitions. This research is focused on the acquirer’s ability towards obtaining performance from product integration and set within the context of highly acquisitive software-houses, those organisations involved in the sales and manufacture of business software products. Within high technology industries, resources are at the heart of the firm and constitute the largest cost. Dynamic capabilities are a more recently extended RBV of the firm to incorporate dynamic markets, I,e, firms in situations of rapid change. In these markets, where the competitive landscape is shifting, the dynamic capabilities by which firm managers integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competencies to address rapidly changing environments. To this end, I test the dynamic capabilities theory in the high tech software industry in times of change. In 2012, software firms completed over $66 billion of mergers and acquisitions (Berkery Noyes, 2013). However research suggests that synergies are often left unrealised (Barkema and Schijven, 2008; Léger and Quach, 2009). In addition, the software industry is maturing and the mergers and acquisition activity in the industry has intensified (Léger and Quach, 2009). The highly acquisitive company - seeking rapid growth and using acquisitions as the means to achieve this, is using a recognised route to growth (Damodaran, 2004). In a report from PwC (2014) Rob Fisher, the PwC US technology industry leader notes that With software embedded in virtually everything, software and Internet sector [mergers and acquisitions] deal activity continues to flourish, offsetting declines in other subsectors.” (PWC, 2013): In this longitudinal research I describe, explain and account for the impacts of mergers and acquisitions on innovation, expressed through product integration; - the reconfiguring and combination of the product portfolios within software firms. Concerning the acquiring firm's endogenous growth (the creation of value through internal resource capability), I explain the relationship between organisation capabilities and the innovation outcome as well as the innovation effect on revenue. I find that the dynamic capabilities framework is a suitable for complex empirical study. In addition I find that while the measures including the measured capabilities directly effect product integration and revenues. By using mediation techniques, I also find that revenues are indirectly affected by product integration. Interestingly product integration, negatively impacts the financial performance of the firm. These findings are important for managerial decision making and imply a high level of orchestration requirement. According to the Business Software Alliance, BSA (2008), the software sector has enjoyed meteoric growth. In 2007, the software and related services sector experienced a real annual growth rate of 14%, while the business sector was considerably less. This is reflected by the business, SunGard (2009) who grew endogenously by only 1%. In light of the business problem, I concentrate on highly acquisitive software firms, i.e. those firms seeking growth through acquisition. I conceptualise product integration innovation as a second stage process of organisation integration. I have tested my theory using panel data of highly acquisitive firms, which have undertaken in excess of 900 events over a ten-year period.

Cross-national merger and acquisition (M&A) activity is common and is argued to be a strategic tool for the growth of multinational corporations. Yet, M&A activity has a high failure rate which theorists have explained being due to cultural clashes. Previous research has explained these clashes being due to cultural distance. Other studies have focused on the extent to which the firms are culturally integrated and its relation to cultural clashes. In this study we investigate the relation between cultural distance and the extent to which the firms are culturally integrated as we believe that this relation in turn influences how cultural clashes are perceived by managers.

As the human side of M&A has become of great interest within research we stress the importance of understanding what happens with managers in the organization during the post-acquisition process. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to investigate the managers’ perception of cultural clashes, in relation to the perceived extent of cultural integration and perceived cultural distance, in cross-national mergers and acquisitions.

In order to achieve an in-depth understanding of a series of cross-national M&As and to answer the purpose of this thesis, a qualitative case study design was used. Semistandardized interviews were made with ten managers from a Swedish firm that has gone through a series of cross-national M&As involving Swiss, French and German managements.

The findings show that managers’ perception of cultural clashes differs depending on to what extent two firms are culturally integrated and in relation to the cultural distance between the two firms. No matter if high or low cultural distance managers perceive few cul-tural clashes if the extent to which the firms are integrated is low. If the cultural integration, on the other hand, is high and the cultural distance is high, the cultural clashes are perceived as many. Our findings indicate that cultural clashes are perceived differently depend-ing on how they affect the managerial role and the organizational behaviour. We refer to these clashes as implicit agreements and explicit statements. Clashes in implicit agreements are evolved from behaviour deeply rooted in national culture and corporate culture. These clashes have minor effects on the managerial role and the organizational behaviour. Never-theless, managers need to be aware of the differences and adapt to the preferred behaviour when interacting with the acquiring firm’s management. Explicit statements, on the other hand, affect the managerial role and organizational behaviour and lead to cultural clashes that conduce to frustration, lack of motivation and inefficiency. These clashes are more ap-parent when the extent of culturally integration is high. Therefore, the acquiring firm should not attempt to assimilate its target company in cross-national M&As.

Malgré l’engouement des organisations pour les fusions-acquisitions (F/A), leur taux d’échec élevé invite à continuer la recherche en proposant de nouvelles clés de lecture. De nombreux travaux soutiennent que les F/A nécessitent de nouvelles approches pour appréhender la complexité et le dynamisme de ces opérations, et plus spécifiquement de l’intégration post-fusion. Notre recherche propose une analyse des dynamiques inhérentes au cours du processus et plus particulièrement lors de l’intégration. Cette étude se place dans une logique intégrative, appréhendant la multiplicité des dynamiques à l’œuvre dans le but de comprendre comment ces dynamiques engendrent ou entravent la réussite de l’intégration. Nous utilisons ces dynamiques comme un moyen pour parvenir à capter la complexité inhérente au processus de fusion, et comme une opportunité pour capter le dynamisme de l’intégration. Une manière de rendre intelligibles ces dynamiques inter-reliées dans un espace-temps défini est de recourir au concept de paradoxe. Les paradoxes offrent en effet un cadre pour décrypter les dynamiques inhérentes aux organisations. Ainsi, la lecture paradoxale permet une analyse globale des dynamiques à l’œuvre. La question de recherche suivante est posée : « Comment la gestion des paradoxes favorise-t-elle l’intégration post-fusion ? ». La thèse s'appuie sur une méthodologie qualitative d’une étude de cas longitudinale en temps réel d'une fusion sur 24 mois. Il ressort de la thèse que la nature évolutive des paradoxes au cours d’une intégration, ainsi que leur multiplicité, permet de comprendre en quoi ces dynamiques interfèrent dans la réussite du processus d’intégration post-fusion
Despite the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As), their high failure rate calls to continue research by proposing new reading keys. Many studies argue that M&As require new approaches to understand the organizational complexity and dynamism of these operations, and more specifically concerning post-merger integration (PMI) process. This phase is defined as a crucial one because it determines the success or failure of the merger. Our research provides an analysis of the dynamics inherent in the process, and especially during the PMI. This study is based on an integrative logic, considering the multiplicity of dynamics at work to understand how they engender or hinder the success of PMI. We use these dynamics as a means to capture the complexity inherent in the merger process, and as an opportunity to capture the dynamics of PMI. The concept of paradox allows us to make intelligible these inter-related dynamics within a defined temporal framework. Paradoxes provides a framework to decipher the dynamics inherent in organizations. The paradoxical reading allows a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics at work in the merger process. This leads us to ask the following research question: "How does the management of paradoxes benefits post-merger integration? ". The thesis is based on a qualitative methodology of a longitudinal and real-time case study of a 24-month merger, once the operation has been signed. It emerges from the thesis that the evolutionary nature of paradoxes during the post-merger integration, as well as their multiplicity (categories, actors, levels), allows us to understand how these dynamics interfere in the success of the PMI process

In theory, the phrase "mergers and acquisitions" (abbreviated M&A) refers to buying, selling and combining different companies in order to gain improved financial performance, create a global presence, and face the global competitive market. Nevertheless, many researches have underlined the high rate of failure among M&A, and the difficulty to achieve expected results and synergies. Among the reasons of failure, many analysts have pointed out the determinant influence of the cultural aspect in the success or the failure of a cross-border merger. However, the cultural issue in M&A is often neglected and too less stressed.

In order to have a better understanding of the cultural aspect in the merger and acquisition process, and point out its influence on the merger process as well as the corporate culture, we first present a theoretical part introducing the cross-border merger and acquisition concept with the perspective of the national culture, and the role that leaders could play in order to limit the negative impact of culture and the clashes on cross-border M&A. Therefore, a part including three cases of "cultural failure" in the merger process illustrates the concepts explained in the theoretical part. Those well-known cases are: DaimlerChrysler, UpJohn & Pharmacia, and Volvo – Renault. The cases show how the cultural issue had been underestimated and had implied cultural clashes and extra-costs for the companies involved.

After concluding our findings, we end the thesis with a prospective part based on the possible evolution of the merger and acquisition market. Indeed, we believe that our research topic will gain importance in the future, and the influence of culture on M&A deals may increase.

“All marriages are happy. It’s the living together afterwards that causes all the trouble.” - Raymond Hull, Canadian Playwright. Although Mergers and Acquisitions are common, no merger is termed as successful until post merger integration is successful. During M&A, two companies that function uniquely are fused together, and the Information Technology group is expected to consolidate two different systems efficiently. This integration should be well-executed, and without any disruption to business or customers. Every merger is different, and can have innumerable reasons for failure, ranging from poor implementation strategies to cultural or attitudinal problems. One of the reasons, many Post-Merger Integration activities fail, is due to the Information Technology complexity and inadequacy to address the issues, it brings to the table. This thesis aims at studying the importance of post-merger Information Technology (IT) integration and developing an IT strategy for the integration. There are no scientific guidelines laid out for a post-merger IT integration and each company employs its own methods. Hence the author has researched and developed a post-merger IT integration framework that can give definitive approach and assist in seamless integration. This framework includes practices that can be followed for a smooth IT transition and checklist to ensure successful integration. Lastly the author presents two cases of M&A that illustrate the importance of IT integration, namely, Sallie Mae- USA Group and HP-Compaq. Sallie Mae & USA Group was a huge success due to its successful IT integration implementation while HP-Compaq merger was a disappointment for the lack of understanding the importance of IT integration. From these two cases, the author has also derived the usefulness of the proposed framework. Author has also presented another case of Oracle-Sun merger, which does an analysis of the IT integration carried out by the two companies. It would not be unwise to say, that IT plays an ever increasing pervasive role in today’s organizations, hence a successful merger demands successful IT integration.
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The complexities of integrating companies, through mergers or acquisitions, are immense and challenging for the leaders involved in the process who are responsible not only for the integration but also for the attainment of the intended objectives. The implications has the potential for far reaching consequences for the leaders themselves, shareholders and employees. However, as much as half of mergers and acquisitions concluded fail to achieve their stated objectives (Stahl, 2004; Bijlsma-Frankema, 2004; Deutch & West, 2010; Sher, 2012). The purpose of this exploratory research study is to establish how the success rate of these mergers and acquisitions could be improved. The focus of the research is on the post-merger / post-acquisition integration process which should not only ensure that the financial objectives of the integrated entity are met but also to ensure the retainment of critical talent. The role leadership plays in the process will also be looked into as leaders play a pivotal role in establishing organisational cultures and therefore accountable for the success / failure of the post-merger integration process. A practical post integration application model will be developed to aid the improvement of the success rate of future post-merger / acquisition integrations.
Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
zkgibs2015
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
Unrestricted

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Statistics and Information Management, specialization in Risk Analysis and Management
Investment and disinvestment operations are gaining importance in a high economic restructuring era. Post-acquisition integration, according to some authors, is one of the critical phases of every strategic acquisition and determines the outcome of the whole acquisition. Researchers have found out that as much as one half to two-thirds of mergers and acquisitions are economically unsuccessful. Main contributing factors are attributed to late and inadequate execution of the post-acquisition. Although much has been written regarding the critical factors to successful integration after a merger or acquisition, very little research has focused on the associated risk management and its mitigation. To fill this shortage, the objective of the present dissertation is to identify and study the problems at procedure level in a post-acquisition process, thus contributing to operational risks and provide a systematised information support to assist organisations in making decisions regarding operational risk management in post-acquisition financial integration processes. The research methodology used is based on the literature review and the conduct of a case study focused on an acquisition carried by a multinational healthcare company. In the case study, interviews were carried out with professionals from the company directly involved in the finance integration of the acquired company. Based on the results of the interviews and articulating them with the theoretical assumptions presented in the literature review, a matrix of operational risk management in finance integration process was then constructed, which identifies the main risk factors and the risks associated, controls, mitigation measures and impacts associated with each factor.

碩士
東海大學
企業管理學系碩士班
101
Enterprises have been used mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to seek business growth since 1980, managers want to realize expected synergies by M&As. In a tendency towards M&As, the situation of post-acquisitions realized synergies hasn’t accomplished as we expected, many people focus on the determinants of successful M&As. A great deal of literature on M&As indicated that synergies hadn’t been realized, because problems were often occurred at phase of integration. Because merged firms’ employees were afraid of new status lower than pre-status in new firm, and culture differences clashed on their work, if the merging firms’ managers took higher level of integration, the merged firms’ employees might be absent, leave or lower production. As we mentioned above, many problems arise from inappropriate decisions of integration, it would affect realizing synergies. However, research which has empirically documented on determinants of integration level is limited, it’s not unimportant. This research is based on knowledge-based/ capabilities-based view, national culture differences, and organizational politics, exploring determinants of integration level. This research used a questionnaire, and all listed Taiwanese firms with M&As experiences that are qualified for listed company, over the counter company, closed corporation, and the past five years of non-public company. Finally, this research use exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis to examine 38 samples. The findings suggest that operational synergies have positive influence on level of overall integration, operational synergies have positive influence on level of control and procedures integration, collusive synergies has positive influence on level of physical resources integration, routinization and codification of M&As experiences has positive influence on level of overall integration, routinization and codification of M&As experiences has positive influence on level of personnel and culture integration, financial synergies has negative influence on level of personnel and culture integration.

碩士
國立政治大學
國際經營管理碩士班(IMBA)
97
The rise of globalization has exponentially increased the market for cross border Merger and Acquisitions (M&As). There are many purposes and motives that organizations choose to engage merger and acquisitions activities. Yet, the dominant rationale behind M&As is to seek improved financial performance. Post merger integration has been considered as the most important phase as it will formulate the merger and acquisition’s effectiveness and efficiency. This study will focus on the key success factors and the managerial procedures of post-merger integration, covering from Finance, Human Resources and Strategic management aspects. The author chooses Globe Union Inc, Taiwan-based Corporation, as it has engaged several cross border merger and acquisitions in recent years. Globe Union concentrates and values corporate managerial procedures significantly as they served as the discipline and communication means to guide Globe Union and the acquired companies to a better and improved future with a clear strategy and goals. The three acquired companies, Gerber, Home Boutique International, and PJH will be analyzed with its post integration results linking with the execution of the managerial procedures. Key Words: Cross-border mergers and acquisitions; Post Merger and Acquisition Integration, Globe Union Inc. cases; Taiwan cases

碩士
逢甲大學
國際貿易所
95
In Taiwan, there were many cases of mereger and acquisition for banks occurred. But it was the first case for the Standard Chartered Bank merged the Hsinchu International Bank about that the foreign bank merged domestic bank. The purpose of this research is to discuss the issues of post-acquisition for integration, including the situation of integration of human, resources, structure, and the performance in the period of integration. We want to realize if the similarity of business model, the complementarities of resource dependency, and the interdependence of strategy will influence the success of integration. It is one objective of this research. And we also want to know if the degree of success for integration will make the performance positive. According the results of empirical research, we know if business model is more similar, the resources are more complementary, and the strategy is more interdependent in two banks, it will be positive influences to integration. And the degree of success for integration is positive to the performance in the period of integration. Then, before the banks make the strategy for merger and acquisition, they need to realize the differences between target campany and themselves for the success of integration, including the resources endowment and the strategy of business.