The Handbook of Mergers and Acquisitions

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. Contributors to this volume - Professor Duncan Angwin, Professor of Strategy, Oxford Brookes University, ENPC, Paris and Associate Fellow, Warwick Business School Maria Carapeto, Senior Lecturer in Finance and Deputy Director of the M&A Research Centre, Cass Business School, City University London Professor Susan Cartwright, Professor of Organizational Psychology and Well-Being, Lancaster University, and Director of the Centre for Organizational Health and Well Being Professor John Child, Emeritus Professor, Birmingham Business School and Visiting Professor at the University of Hong Kong Professor Viktoria Dalko, Global Professor of Finance, Hult International Business School Professor Rolf van Dick, Professor of Social Psychology, the Department of Psychology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany Professor Gary Dymski, Professor of Economics, the University of California, Riverside Dr Samantha Fairclough, the Deloitte & Touche Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Strategic Management and Organization, the School of Business, the University of Alberta, and Associate Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Novak Druce Centre for Professional Service Firms, Said Business School, the University of Oxford L Nicholas Fairclough, doctoral candidate, the Department of Strategic Management and Organization, the University of Alberta Dr Steffen R. Giessner, Associate Professor, the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Dr Jerayr Haleblian, Associate Professor of Management, University of California-Riverside Elina Happonen, Analyst at Nordea Finland School of Professor Michael Hitt, Distinguished Professor of Management, Texas A&M University and the Joe B. Foster Chair in Business Leadership Dr Sajjad M. Jasimuddin, Lecturer, the School of Management and Business, Aberystwyth University, Associate Professor, the University of Dhaka (Bangladesh), and Visiting Professor, Dalian University of Foreign Languages (China) Professor Prashant Kale, Professor of Strategic Management, the Jones School of Management, Rice University Professor Thomas Keil, Professor of Strategic Management, Aalto University, Finland Dr Adelaide Wilcox King, Associate Professor, the McIntire School of Commerce, the University of Virginia Dr David R. King, Associate Professor, the College of Business Administration, Marquette University Kalin Kolev, doctoral student in strategic management, Michigan State University Professor Hema Krishnan, Associate Dean and Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship, Xavier University, Cincinnati Professor Tomi Laamanen, Professor of Strategic Management, University of St Gallen, Switzerland Aino Makisalo, Analyst at Roschier Dr Marianna Makri, Associate Professor, the School of Business Administration, the University of Miami Professor Gerry McNamara, Professor of Management at Michigan State University Professor Brendan McSweeney, Professor of Management, Royal Holloway University, London and Visiting Professor, Stockholm Business School, University of Stockholm Professor Scott Moeller, Director and Founder of the M&A Research Centre and Professor in the Practice of Finance, Cass Business School Professor Vassilis M. Papadakis, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Business Administration, the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), Greece Dr Robert Pitkethly, Fellow and Tutor in Management, St. Peter's College, Oxford Professor Annette L. Ranft, the Jim Moran Professor of Management, Florida State University Professor Bill Ryan, Professor of Accounting, Hult International Business School, London Dr Mario Schijven, Assistant Professor of Management, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University Professor Lars Schweizer, the UBS-Endowed Professor for Management, Goethe University Frankfurt, and Associate Dean of Goethe Business School Jennifer C. Sexton, Doctoral Candidate, Florida State University Professor Katsuhiko (Katsu) Shimizu, Professor of Organization Theory and Strategic Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University, Japan Professor Harbir Singh, the William and Phyllis Mack Professor of Management and former Chair of the Management Department, the Wharton School of Business Professor Sudi Sudarsanam, Emeritus Professor of Finance and Corporate Control, Cranfield School of Management Ioannis C. Thanos, PhD, the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), Greece Professor Janne Tienari, Professor of Organizations and Management, Aalto University, School of Economics, Finland Dr Johannes Ullrich, Privat dozent in the Department of Psychology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany Professor Eero Vaara, Professor of Management and Organization, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland, and permanent Visiting Professor at EM Lyon Business School, France Professor Philippe Very, Professor of Strategic Management, EDHEC Business School, France Dr Hong Zhu, Assistant Professor, Department of Management, the Chinese University of Hong Kong