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Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Dynamic Capabilities in Acquisitions
T2 - When Acquirer and Target Employees Face Contradictory and Complementary Human Resource Signals
AU - Strobl, Andreas
AU - Bauer, Florian
AU - Shepherd, Neil
AU - Lou, Bowen
AU - Tarba, Shlomo
AU - Dao, Mai Anh
PY - 2024/12/20
Y1 - 2024/12/20
N2 - Dynamic capabilities are crucial for firm survival and success, but to survive and succeed firms must manage multiple higher- and lower-order dynamic capabilities that can be complementary, but also conflicting. Utilizing human resource (HR) signaling theory, we provide new theoretical insights into the conditions, mechanisms, and reasons why Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) capabilities (a lower-order dynamic capability) and organizational agility (a higher-order dynamic capability) are sometimes complementary, and at other times contradictory during acquisition integration. Our theory disentangles the interaction between these capabilities and explains how they act as a double-edged sword. We test our theory development using survey data from 91 acquisitions taking place in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Lichtenstein. Our results show that conflicting HR signals from M&A capabilities and organizational agility cause acquirer-target conflict, complicating post-merger integration and hindering knowledge transfer; while complementary signals enhance knowledge transfer. The findings provide important implications for the M&A, HR management, and dynamic capabilities literature, as well as valuable insights for M&A practitioners.
AB - Dynamic capabilities are crucial for firm survival and success, but to survive and succeed firms must manage multiple higher- and lower-order dynamic capabilities that can be complementary, but also conflicting. Utilizing human resource (HR) signaling theory, we provide new theoretical insights into the conditions, mechanisms, and reasons why Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) capabilities (a lower-order dynamic capability) and organizational agility (a higher-order dynamic capability) are sometimes complementary, and at other times contradictory during acquisition integration. Our theory disentangles the interaction between these capabilities and explains how they act as a double-edged sword. We test our theory development using survey data from 91 acquisitions taking place in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Lichtenstein. Our results show that conflicting HR signals from M&A capabilities and organizational agility cause acquirer-target conflict, complicating post-merger integration and hindering knowledge transfer; while complementary signals enhance knowledge transfer. The findings provide important implications for the M&A, HR management, and dynamic capabilities literature, as well as valuable insights for M&A practitioners.
KW - dynamic capabilities
KW - M&A Capability
KW - Organizational Agility
KW - Acquirer-target Conflict
KW - Knowledge Transfer
KW - Post-merger Integration
KW - Human Integration
KW - Signaling Theory
U2 - 10.1111/1467-8551.12889
DO - 10.1111/1467-8551.12889
M3 - Journal article
JO - British Journal of Management
JF - British Journal of Management
SN - 1045-3172
ER -