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The impact of organizational and national cultural differences on social conflict and knowledge transfer in international acquisitions

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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The impact of organizational and national cultural differences on social conflict and knowledge transfer in international acquisitions. / Vaara, Eero; Sarala, Riikka; Stahl, Günter K. et al.
In: Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 49, No. 1, 01.2012, p. 1-27.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Vaara, E, Sarala, R, Stahl, GK & Björkman, I 2012, 'The impact of organizational and national cultural differences on social conflict and knowledge transfer in international acquisitions', Journal of Management Studies, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00975.x

APA

Vaara, E., Sarala, R., Stahl, G. K., & Björkman, I. (2012). The impact of organizational and national cultural differences on social conflict and knowledge transfer in international acquisitions. Journal of Management Studies, 49(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00975.x

Vancouver

Vaara E, Sarala R, Stahl GK, Björkman I. The impact of organizational and national cultural differences on social conflict and knowledge transfer in international acquisitions. Journal of Management Studies. 2012 Jan;49(1):1-27. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00975.x

Author

Vaara, Eero ; Sarala, Riikka ; Stahl, Günter K. et al. / The impact of organizational and national cultural differences on social conflict and knowledge transfer in international acquisitions. In: Journal of Management Studies. 2012 ; Vol. 49, No. 1. pp. 1-27.

Bibtex

@article{22fe95bc2b4840558940f1b81a7ab813,
title = "The impact of organizational and national cultural differences on social conflict and knowledge transfer in international acquisitions",
abstract = "The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the effects of organizational and national cultural differences on international acquisitions. We argue that cultural differences prompt social identity building that leads to {\textquoteleft}us versus them{\textquoteright} thinking and thereby creates the potential for social conflict. We also maintain that the same cultural differences can contribute to learning in terms of knowledge transfer. We develop a structural equation model to test these hypothesized effects on a sample of related international acquisitions. Our analysis shows that cultural differences at the organizational level are positively associated with social conflict, but that national cultural differences can decrease social conflict. Furthermore, both organizational and national cultural differences are positively associated with knowledge transfer. This analysis shows the importance of disentangling the various effects that cultural differences have on international acquisitions. It also suggests that national cultural differences are less of a problem in international acquisitions than is usually assumed.",
keywords = "acquisition, culture , integration , knowledge transfer , learning , social conflict, social identity",
author = "Eero Vaara and Riikka Sarala and Stahl, {G{\"u}nter K.} and Ingmar Bj{\"o}rkman",
year = "2012",
month = jan,
doi = "10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00975.x",
language = "English",
volume = "49",
pages = "1--27",
journal = "Journal of Management Studies",
issn = "0022-2380",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The impact of organizational and national cultural differences on social conflict and knowledge transfer in international acquisitions

AU - Vaara, Eero

AU - Sarala, Riikka

AU - Stahl, Günter K.

AU - Björkman, Ingmar

PY - 2012/1

Y1 - 2012/1

N2 - The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the effects of organizational and national cultural differences on international acquisitions. We argue that cultural differences prompt social identity building that leads to ‘us versus them’ thinking and thereby creates the potential for social conflict. We also maintain that the same cultural differences can contribute to learning in terms of knowledge transfer. We develop a structural equation model to test these hypothesized effects on a sample of related international acquisitions. Our analysis shows that cultural differences at the organizational level are positively associated with social conflict, but that national cultural differences can decrease social conflict. Furthermore, both organizational and national cultural differences are positively associated with knowledge transfer. This analysis shows the importance of disentangling the various effects that cultural differences have on international acquisitions. It also suggests that national cultural differences are less of a problem in international acquisitions than is usually assumed.

AB - The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the effects of organizational and national cultural differences on international acquisitions. We argue that cultural differences prompt social identity building that leads to ‘us versus them’ thinking and thereby creates the potential for social conflict. We also maintain that the same cultural differences can contribute to learning in terms of knowledge transfer. We develop a structural equation model to test these hypothesized effects on a sample of related international acquisitions. Our analysis shows that cultural differences at the organizational level are positively associated with social conflict, but that national cultural differences can decrease social conflict. Furthermore, both organizational and national cultural differences are positively associated with knowledge transfer. This analysis shows the importance of disentangling the various effects that cultural differences have on international acquisitions. It also suggests that national cultural differences are less of a problem in international acquisitions than is usually assumed.

KW - acquisition

KW - culture

KW - integration

KW - knowledge transfer

KW - learning

KW - social conflict

KW - social identity

U2 - 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00975.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00975.x

M3 - Journal article

VL - 49

SP - 1

EP - 27

JO - Journal of Management Studies

JF - Journal of Management Studies

SN - 0022-2380

IS - 1

ER -