A Marriage Metaphor Model for Sociocultural Integration in International Mergers and Acquisitions

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to gain a better understanding about the sociocultural integration process in international mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by developing a marriage metaphor model for these transactions. Building on the metaphor of M&As as “marriages” between organizations, the presented model suggests that the sociocultural integration process consists of three interrelated phases: the dating, mating, and creating periods. Extant research, however, focuses primarily on the pre‐M&A contingency and post‐M&A process periods, which correspond to the dating and creating phases, respectively, and treats these research streams in relative isolation. This paper attempts to integrate these streams of research in the contexts of M&As across cultures, and further sets out to shed light onto the third, underresearched closing period, which corresponds to the mating phase in the forwarded model. In so doing, this paper endeavors to propose a dynamic perspective of the sociocultural integration in international M&As to emphasize the interrelatedness and on‐going character of this three‐stage process. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The impact of leadership on organizational ambidexterity and employee psychological safety in the global acquisitions of emerging market multinationals

“…However, based on the findings of this study, that involves 105 EMM led cross-border acquisition deals, we have highlighted the important role played by leadership on EPS during the post-acquisition periods of such deals. These constructs were developed from combining various constructs mentioned in the extant literature (Nemanich & Keller, 2007;Rottig, 2013).…”

“…We measured EPS along several different factors, including job and salary safety (Rottig, 2013) (Cronbach's = 0.94).…”

“…Takeover issues are highly related to a lack of information on acquisition outcomes in terms of process and policy changes, which is equally pertinent for EMMs (Appelbaum et al, 2007a;Rottig, 2013). The lack of understanding of and experience in emerging markets and organizations can create national stereotypes in the minds of the target employees (Appelbaum et al, 2007b;Rottig, 2013;Rottig et al, 2014).…”

“…The lack of understanding of and experience in emerging markets and organizations can create national stereotypes in the minds of the target employees (Appelbaum et al, 2007b;Rottig, 2013;Rottig et al, 2014). EPS will be greatly affected by the top down information and communication in an organization (Sinkovics et al, 2011;Stahl et al, 2011).…”

“…In addition to their typical resource-and market-seeking motives, EMMs also undertook cross-border acquisitions to access high-technology and managerial practices and processes (Huang & Khanna, 2003;Purushothaman, 2004;Kumar, 2008;Gubbi et al, 2010;Hattari & Rajan, 2010). Although cross-border acquisitions are typically more complex (Aguilera & Dencker, 2004), the extant narrative on EMMs global acquisitions generally focuses on the performance of such acquisitions without critically examining the underlying processes that can explain the performance peculiarities (Rottig, 2013;Rottig, Reus & Tarba, 2014).…”