Based
on a qualitative, large-scale, interview-based inductive study of eight
acquisitions conducted by Finnish multinationals, this article develops
a grounded model of the dynamics of acquired firm employee reactions
preceding related, industrial cross-border acquisitions. In contrast to
most merger and acquisition (M&A) research portraying employee
reactions in times of M&A in a negative, stressful light, the
present findings shed a contradictory light on this discourse. In six of
the studied acquisitions, pre-acquisition employee reactions tended
toward motivation rather than uncertainty. The underlying reason was
that these acquisitions were perceived as opportunities instead of
threats in the target firms. As a result, target firm management became
proactively involved in promoting the acquisition’s success. The author
terms this target behavioral responsiveness and found it to result from
(a) “static” factors (partner organizational attractiveness and target
cognitive responsiveness) as well as (b) “dynamic” factors (partner
behavioral attractiveness and target strategic responsiveness).
Intriguingly, the dynamic factors were found to have a stronger
predictive impact on target behavioral responsiveness. Indeed, in two of
the acquisitions, their low ranking on static factors was countered by a
high ranking on dynamic factors, namely, attractive partner behaviors
and a strategically responsive target. Employee reactions to a
forthcoming acquisition are thus not the deterministic result of the
change itself, but can be influenced through buying firm behaviors and
positive future intentions as well as the target experiencing a need to
be acquired. Implications for M&A research are discussed, and a
model and propositions to guide future research are suggested.