Though the field of M&A has come under increasing
criticism for its lack of providing theories and explanations of the
phenomenon under study, M&A, less attention has been paid to a
promising ‘suspect’ behind this state of affairs: the methodological
choices used in the study of M&A. Basing ourselves on a symposium on
qualitative methods in the study of M&A at the Annual Meeting of
the Academy of Management (Cartwright, Teerikangas, Rouzies, Wilson, & Tienari, 2009),
and further inspired by the call of Meglio and Risberg (2010) for a
rejuvenation of M&A research, we engage in this introduction to our
Special Issue on ‘Methods in M&A’ into a two-fold exploration. For
one, we look at the past by engaging in a review of published top-tier
M&A research that we analyze from both thematical and methodological
lenses. This ‘rear mirror perspective’ allows us to identify
methodological gaps in the study of M&A, in so doing prompting calls
for action going forward. For another, we gauge into the future through
the lenses of the papers appearing in this Special Issue. Taken
together, these explorations in time into the past and the future enable
us to identify areas of forthcoming methodological foci and engagement
in the study of M&A. In conclusion, we call for a broader span of
attention as regards the (1) focus of analysis: the firm or the network;
(2) ‘bridging’ of themes, methods, levels of analysis, units of
analysis, literatures and theoretical lenses; (3) research philosophical
underpinnings; and (4) foci of qualitative research in the study of
M&A. Looking forward, we foresee a promising future for research
prospects on M&A that we hope this Special Issue will have in its
part helped to spark and inspire.