creation process

: In a study of post-acquisition management practices in the U.S. commercial banking industry, we examine how firms codify their knowledge from previous acquisition experiences and routinize their post-acquisition decisions. We find that firms with higher levels of knowledge codification tend to integrate their acquired units more and to replace the existing top management team with higher probability. Also, acquirers tend to replicate their integration and resource replacement decisions irrespective of variations in the resource characteristics of their targets, suggesting strong tacit routinization effects. 3 Corporate acquisitions have been phenomena of considerable interest to scholars in strategic management, finance and economics for a long time. Despite the impressive amount of research devoted to the performance consequences of acquisitions, the strategic decisions adopted during the post-acquisition integration phase have received significantly less attention. As Haspeslagh...

A contingency approach to incorporate human, emotional and social influence into a

This paper reviews the empirical literature on mergers and acquisitions with an eye towards identifying research questions that have not yet been addressed and that may help resolve two paradoxes that emerge from the literature review. Despite the empirical evidence that, on average, mergers fail to create value for the acquiring firm’s shareholders, corporations continue to employ this strategy at ever-increasing rates (the “success paradox”.) The diversification theory claim that related acquisitions should outperform unrelated ones has not withstood the empirical test (the “synergy paradox”.) We suggest that the resource-based view of the firm can be leveraged to illuminate the nature and characteristics of resources that present difficulties in both the target valuation and integration processes, helping to resolve these two paradoxes. Specifically, we argue that certain qualities of resource bundles are more challenging when valuing target resources and resource combinations, as well as presenting ex post uncertainties about acquired resources. Other resource characteristics, such as embeddedness, tacit value creating routines, and human qualities, present an enigmatic integration process. It is hypothesized that failures to understand these characteristics lead to a tendency to overvalue

the problems and opportunities facing the financial services industry in its search for competitive excellence. The Center's research focuses on the issues related to managing risk at the firm level as well as ways to improve productivity and performance. The Center fosters the development of a community of faculty, visiting scholars and Ph.D. candidates whose research interests complement and support the mission of the Center. The Center works closely with industry executives and practitioners to ensure that its research is informed by the operating realities and competitive demands facing industry participants as they pursue competitive excellence. Copies of the working papers summarized here are available from the Center. If you would like to learn more about the Center or become a member of our research community, please let us know of your interest.