1,721,084 research outputs found
The impact of prior experience on acquisition behaviour and performance: An integrated examination of corporate acquisitions in the USA and UK
The objective of the thesis is to advance the concept of learning by explicating the mechanisms contributing to knowledge accumulation and its transfer to new situations. On the basis of 44 case studies, the framework is refined to accurately capture the unique features and outcomes of experiential knowledge in acquisitions. Feedback from the performance of prior acquisitions was found to enrich representations of action-outcome linkages and modify procedures in search and valuation. Inferential transfer though depended on similar kinds of features emerging in subsequent decisions. Outcomes therefore reflected the integration of feedback processes and similarity judgments. From the case studies, a set of hypotheses was developed and their plausibility tested, using another data set on the acquisitions of 687 managers. The research finds that the performance of prior decisions and the similarity to prior experiences materially impact behaviour. Poor performance in prior, similar acquisitions led to a reduction in subsequent risk behaviour, illustrated by the extent of risk management and by the lessening of commitment to specific transactions. The impact of performance feedback was also extant in the similarity of choice to prior experiences. The results illustrate that although feedback shapes perceptions of likelihood and expected value, similarity judgments moderate the impact of prior performance on behaviour. Given the impact on acquisition behaviour, the research also illustrates that prior experiences do not necessarily increase performance. Adaptation from prior failures was not unambiguously linked to positive returns, suggesting limitations from feedback mechanisms. Rather, the extent and similarity of acquisition experience led to a reduction in the variability of performance. By providing a framework for selecting planning procedures, greater experience tended to reduce surprises post-acquisition
The managing executive in post-acquisition management
Managing Executives occupy a pivotal role in the acquisition process. It is virtually inconceivable that major Merger and Acquisitions (M&As) could proceed without their personal sponsorship (Hayward & Hambrick, 1997). They are central to the negotiation and signing for such deals and it is these negotiations that raise questions over how the target company should be run post-acquisition, how it should be configured to fit within the newly expanded group and what sort of strategy may be appropriate for the future. Managing Executives embody their firm’s strategies and so are intimately connected with these issues of organisational fit and strategic rational. With negotiations focussed upon the future of their businesses and their personal places in corporate history, these contests can be very dramatic. The high stakes are evident in the substantial levels of acquired Managing Executive departure post-acquisition. Whilst we can observe that many acquired Managing Executives subsequently leave the enlarged firm, little evidence to date answers the question of why they have been retained or replaced
Motive archetypes in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) : the implications of a configurational approach to performance
Why do managers continue to transact merger & acquisition (M&A) deals, in massive number and dollar terms, when so many are deemed to fail? This paradox is central to the study of M&A. Despite considerable research effort being devoted to refining and redefining assessments of M&A performance the consensus of opinion remains that most M&A fail. Certain of the high percentage of M&A failure, performance academics infer that the continued massive levels of transactions can only be explained as misguided actions by managers. This chapter believes that the performance paradox can begin to unravel if we move beyond simple inference of managerial intentions and observe what actually takes place in practice. For instance the underlying assumptions of performance academics, that; 1) each M&A must create greater value for acquiring shareholders; 2) no other reasons for an M&A are legitimate, are not adequate for capturing ‘legitimate’ managerial action in practice. This suggests that part of the reason for so many M&A appearing to be failures is a result of the ‘myopia’ of performance studies themselves, where assumed and simplified motives have resulted in crude categorisations and confounded data. These limitations in the M&A performance literature are addressed in this chapter by; 1) demonstrating a broader set of motivations for M&A; 2) establishing their legitimacy; 3) showing that motivations may not be singular in nature but intertwined and complex; 4) presenting a way in which this greater complexity may be conceived in order for more sensitive empirical tests to be performed
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Exploring the critical role of different routine connectors in post acquisition integration
M&A are considered as the key drivers of strategic growth (Angwin 2007) even though organizational performance studies continue to show that they underperform with approximately 50% failing (Schoenberg 2006). While contemporary thinking suggests that post acquisition integration is an important source of value creation (Haspeslagh and Jemison 1991), clear links between integration activities and post acquisition outcomes are yet to be made. Focusing on the sub organizational levels, this thesis uses organizational routines as the unit of analysis to unpack integration activities.
Organizational routines are building blocks of capabilities (Winter 2003) that are critical to strategic advantage (Barney 1991). By conceptualising integration as an amalgamation of routines of two participating firms, this thesis aims to untangle interrelated routines and link these chains of routines to outcomes. Breaking away from the current norm of atomistic routine investigation, this thesis looks at interrelated routines and puts forward the concept of routine connectors that connect one routine to another. In other words, this work shows how routines are held together. Case studies are constructed from 18 integrations to explain how business functions such as operations or marketing are integrated. While doing so, the role of interconnected routines is examined for integration outcome.
This thesis establishes the existence of routine connectors and their properties. Typology of connectors based on their function – vertical or horizontal, and nature –fixed or floating, is presented. The findings show that the floating connectors evolve over time and their tacit nature triggers unintended consequences during planned change initiatives. This thesis also shows that integration outcomes such as customer attrition or increase in costs are a result of misplaced or inappropriate connectors. As routines and their connectors are firm specific, this thesis shows that while prior acquisition experience matters, it does not influence integration outcomes. In addition to establishing the role of routine connectors for integration outcomes, this thesis opens up the black box of post acquisition integration
Variations on the Author
“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Stratography : the art of conceptualizing and communicating strategy
Representations of strategy tend to either be so generalized as to have little real meaning for employees, or go into such detail that people struggle to understand what is really required. The problem is this: a strategy not understood by those charged with implementing it is as bad as, or even worse than, not having a strategy at all. In 1983, a classic Business Horizons article by Karl Weick highlighted the importance of using graphical approaches to overcome strategy relation challenges; however, since then, little has been written regarding how managers might accomplish this successfully. Our article argues that individualized drawings of strategy, or what we term ‘stratography,’ could enable more effective conceptualization and communication of the strategic complexity that organizations face and the paths they are seeking to follow. Herein, we employ the latest thinking in cartography, educational philosophy, optics, graphic design, and military protocol to outline seven good practices of effective stratography
- …
