Does context matter in M&A? National business systems in cross-border acquisitions

: Melanie Hassett, Niina Nummela, Deepak Shrivastava, Rudolf Sinkovics

: Aston University

: 2013

: 40th Annual Conference, AIB UKI 2013, Aston University, Birmingham, 22-23.3.2013

It has been argued that problems related to the post-acquisition integration phase and cultural integration would be the major reasons for acquisition failure, however research on merger and acquisition (M&A) performance has been inconclusive. Prior research on M&A has focused a great deal to the inner context, i.e. the post-acquisition integration within the organisations in question. Moreover, research on the cultural aspects of M&A has been increasingly popular and the focus has recently been on socio-cultural issues. Yet there is very little research on the external context (not only cultural) of both the acquirer and acquired company, and its impact on the post-acquisition integration. This research applies the national business system (NBS) approach in an Indian-Finnish acquisition in the IT sector. This paper will not be a comparative study on India and Finland, but rather an analysis of the acquirer and acquired company within their national business systems and focusing on their institutional features.