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Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK has grown considerably in recent years. US, French, German and Japanese companies have generally accounted for the largest share of this FDI. In addition to greenfield and expansion investment, a major vehicle for inward FDI has been the acquisition of UK companies. This paper examines whether nationally distinct approaches to management were introduced, following acquisition, among a sample of 201 UK subsidiaries of French, German, Japanese, US and UK companies. It provides data on the extent of changes and the post-acquisition influence of the new parent, comparing changes between the four foreign nationalities and a UK control group.The study indicates that the process of being acquired and controlled by a foreign parent company was often followed by significant changes in management practice. Some changes were common to all acquisitions, including those by UK companies. A shift towards performance-related rewards and a stronger quality emphasis in operations are two examples. In addition, there was also evidence of effects which differed between nationalities. These conformed to accepted characterizations of national management practice in the case of Japanese and US acquirers, but less so in the case of French and German acquisitions. The findings suggest that present views of French and German management practice require further investigation. Acquisitions offer the purchasing company a strong position from which to introduce changes in management practice. Discussions in the literature, backed by some comparative management research, suggest that acquirers of different nationalities tend to adopt a distinctive approach to management which emphasizes certain practices. Thus, acquisitions of UK companies potentially offer a

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