With its inception at the end of the nineteenth century as a means of
consolidation and reorganization, mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
have since become quasi-institutionalized as one of the primary
strategic options for organizations, as they seek to secure their
position in an ever more competitive and globalizing market place.
Despite the optimism surrounding M&A as strategic moves, research on
post-merger company performance suggests that most firms engaging in
M&A activity do not achieve the sought-after performance targets,
either immediately or in the years following the deal. What is it that
drives M&A activity when research results do not support the
performance expectations of these undertakings? Alternatively, have
M&A scholars got it all wrong in the way that M&A performance is
measured? Is the topic too complex, enduring, and multifaceted to
study?

The Handbook argues that the field of M&A is in need
of a re-rooting: past research needs to be critically reviewed, and
fundamental assumptions revisited. A key issue preventing efforts in the
practice and study of M&A from achieving dynamic syntheses has been
the disciplinary gulf separating strategy, finance, and human relations
schools. The Handbook aims to bridge the hitherto separate disciplines
engaged in the study and practice of M&A to provide more meaningful
results.

Toward this end, the Handbook brings together a set of
prominent and emerging scholars and practitioners engaged in the study
of M&A to provide thought-provoking, state of the art overviews of
M&A through four specific 'lenses' - strategic, financial,
socio-cultural, and sectorial approaches. By summarizing key findings in
current research and exploring ways in which the differing approaches
could and should be 'synthesized', it aims to highlight the key issues
facing M&A practitioners and academics at the dawn of the third
millennium.