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The company closed the deal over two‐years ago, but the organization is still not operating as one company: results are lagging, customers are defecting, and shareholders are restless. Management thought that they checked off all of the right deal actions, including: a thorough due diligence (operations, finances, systems, and people); assigning appropriate integration resources early and keeping them available throughout the integration process; developing and executing detailed integration plans; and measuring, tracking, and reporting implementation progress against the integration plans. But, somewhere, somehow, something went wrong – and it has to be fixed, or else. The transaction itself was completed too long ago for any action now to be truly considered “post‐deal integration.” The situation the company now faces is “merger repair.” Unfortunately, they are not alone. Numerous, well‐intentioned deals have gone sour either due to gross negligence or because of a series of small – but in aggregate very powerful – mistakes and/or delays. This article provides a method to identify whether or not a company is in need of “merger repair,” and an approach (including supporting tools and templates) to perform the needed “repairs.”

In working with numerous clients on merger integration efforts we have identified that, not only do many companies struggle with their immediate M&A integration efforts, but they also suffer chronic performance issues caused by past integration efforts that have been allowed to linger and/or have been managed poorly.

Conducting M&A integration efforts poorly creates lasting business performance issues (e.g. poor customer service, lower than desired productivity, lack of cost control, and/or unrealized revenue improvement) long after a deal is closed. Almost half (49 percent) of the respondents to The University of Dallas Graduate School Of Management's, 2006 Mergers and Acquisitions Survey – The Current State of M&A Integration (including 124 executives and managers from 21 different industries), indicated that their company is in need of “merger repair.” There are two key tracks of “merger repair” companies can pursue to first get the business back on track, and then to improve the organization's future M&A integration competency.

This article advances the current theory and practice of post‐merger integration that, up to this point, has focused exclusively on integration activities conducted immediately (i.e. within the first 6 to 12‐months) of deal close. This article also addresses how to identify and address integration issues that still exist two or more years after a deal is closed, by providing pragmatic tools and templates that practitioners can immediately apply to both identify and resolve situations of “merger repair.” Lastly, the approach described has broad application to companies across multiple industries and geographies.

This paper offers an empirical study of the Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation (ESTIA) programme, as the policy initiative for the provision of housing and social integration for asylum seekers over the last few years in Greece. Greece is a country that is geographically situated on the southern external borders of Europe and has been experiencing a rise in refugee flows since 2015. At a first glance, it seems that ESTIA’s central aim is social integration. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the design and implementation framework of ESTIA essentially promotes the goal of social integration or whether it is merely a gesture that has no real effect.

The field research focussed on an evaluation of the ESTIA programme on the basis of its impact on the social integration of its beneficiaries. This was attempted by examining the attitudes and perceptions of key stakeholders during its design and implementation stages. In order to examine these dimensions, qualitative research methods were developed. In particular, in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants involved in the design and implementation processes of ESTIA.

Social integration is something much more than providing permanent shelters to asylum seekers. ESTIA has been designed and implemented with a view to providing better temporary housing conditions for its beneficiaries. The rest of the range of actions for their social actions was left to voluntary actions by the implementing agencies, without offering them any financial support – a fact that suggests that the use of the term “social integration” in relation to this programme is disingenuous. Such an intervention does not aim at significant social integration but, primarily, the temporary management of extreme impoverishment. ESTIA can, therefore, be added to the scientific literature as yet another case study where the complex concept of social integration is misused by the EU and European states to legitimise the policies of repression and control of refugee populations.

This is the first field research that examines the design and implementation framework of ESTIA, the most important programme for the social integration of asylum seekers in Greece. The presentation of research findings is expected to make a significant contribution to the improvement of many aspects of the design and implementation framework of ESTIA.

The purpose of this paper is to seek to advance the understanding of competitive interaction framework based on competitive dynamics theory that investigates how nonmarket and market factors concurrently affect the relationships among action and response, their integration, and initiating firm performance.

To test the hypotheses for this study, the authors used data collected from the news found in web sites of 72 Chinese firms over a five-year period from January 2007 to December 2011. The authors use the approach suggested by Baron and Kenny (1986) to test the mediated effect of rival response and speed, after structured content analysis is adopted to overcome the challenges of identification and measurement by using a sample of competitive actions and responses.

The results test partial mediating role of rival response and speed in linking nonmarket, market, and integrated action with initiating firm performance outcomes. Rival responses and speed may vary systematically in nonmarket action. The relationship between the integration of competitive action and initiating firm performance is positive, high, and significant.

The results of this study were limited by a sample in China. The authors further need to consider how nonmarket and market components are operationalized in different institutional environments. The authors study only captures observable moves reported in the news of Chinese firms’ web sites. This single-data source collection raises the specter of cognitive bias. It is advised to collect data from multiple sources, perhaps directly measuring the managers’ perception by using a questionnaire-based survey.

Firms whose main focus is to launch market actions in an effort to gain competitive advantage should ensure that their nonmarket actions constitute interfirm rivalry. Particularly, this study also encourages managers to continuously and rapidly integrate nonmarket actions into their analyses of market competition for firm success. Additionally, managers need to develop effective information-processing mechanisms to analyze, monitor, forecast, and interpret rival response and speed for each competitor.

The research contributes to the authors’ understanding of the nature of nonmarket and market competition by bridging nonmarket action into traditional competitive dynamics.

This paper aims to describe an investigation into how company performance can be improved by integrating internal and external customers and technology. The approach was developed, implemented and evaluated in the operations of the building components industry. The research was carried out in the precast concrete division of a Singapore company.

For the purpose of undertaking the investigation an exploratory case study approach was used. This was divided into conceptual and action research stages. The action research was also used to implement the changes in the company. Questionnaire surveys were carried out among company employees and external customers to assess the effect of these changes. Results of the investigation were derived using content and statistical analysis. Triangulation between three sources was used for validating the data.

The exploratory case study strategy resulted in rich research data, which provided evidence of the changes taking place and integration happening, leading to improved performance. The action research approach proved a powerful tool where the uncertainty of outcomes makes it near impossible to make accurate forecasts. Another output of the research was the development of an “integrated customer orientation” (ICO) model.

The research in this paper used a single site action research investigation so should be interpreted within the specific company and industry context. There are implications for theory and practice in a number of areas of production and marketing as well as contributions to understanding about productivity improvement and organisational development. The investigation also fulfils the dual objectives of action research by contributing to both knowledge and practice.

The paper describes a unique approach towards improving productivity, quality and service through the use of action research to implement changes, as well as providing the research evidence to evaluate both the process of implementation and results achieved.

Integrating services does not necessarily lead to improved outcomes for people with care and support needs and fails to address the need for workforce integration. Workforce integration requires different professional groups to give up personal power, put the people they are supporting ahead of entrenched professional rivalries and be versatile not flexible in how they work. Integration is not important to people with care and support needs, unless it makes a difference to their ability to lead an independent life. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A personal opinion piece based on learning from the development of principles for workforce integration with social care and health employers.

Integration takes time and there is no quick fix or magic solution, but it can happen. People's behaviour and motivations are complex, confusing and often inconsistent, and mandating service integration will not change the way workers behave. Perhaps it is now time to stop using service integration as a way of avoiding making tough decisions about the more challenging issue of workforce integration and what this means for those with power and control over people's lives.

The paper separates integration into service and workforce integration and argues that too much focus is given to the former rather the latter.

The article brings the quality characteristics of action research to project management and explores how these quality characteristics of well-designed and executed action research can inform and enhance the practice of project management.

A reflective paper.

The article identifies five imperatives in bringing together action research and project management. The authors argue that project management may be conducted in a manner that is rigorous, reflective and relevant.

The integration of project management and action research is not empirically described. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test and further develop the model in relation to the design and management of projects.

Practical questions are posed for implementation.

The integration of action research and project management is a collaborative venture and the engagement imperative emphasizes that collaboration.

By bringing together action research and project management the article integrates five imperatives: design, engagement, improvement, action and research and quality characteristics of action research to enhance project management as rigorous, reflective and relevant.

The purpose of this paper is to present a four component model of ethical behavior (PRIMES) that integrates literature in moral psychology, computing ethics, and virtue ethics as informed by research on moral exemplars in computing. This is part 1 of a two‐part contribution.

This psychologically based and philosophically informed model argues that moral action is: grounded in relatively stable PeRsonality characteristics (PR); guided by integration of morality into the self‐system; shaped by the context of the surrounding moral ecology; and facilitated by morally relevant skills and knowledge (S).

The model seeks to explain the daily successful (and unsuccessful) performance of moral action by computing professionals and to provide groundwork for a pedagogy that emphasizes ethically effective performance.

The model has significant implications for how ethical action might be taught to computer professionals and other design professionals. It also makes recommendations about what is needed to measure to construct a complete picture of sustained ethical action in a profession.

Most accepted models of ethical behavior are unidimensional, emphasizing either principled reasoning or a simplistic model of integrity/character. This model brings together a variety of disparate literatures in the light of its emphasis on sustained moral action in the profession. It thereby provides researchers and educators with a picture of what is needed to construct a complete understanding of moral action in the profession.

Today, there is a global need for more effective leaders. The purpose of this paper is to present a model of human development which covers the psychological, physiological, and sociological dimensions of leadership.

The authors review three research studies in which they have investigated the relationships between consciousness, psycho‐physiological integration, and leadership performance using physiological measures, psychological tests, and self‐reports.

These studies support the model that leadership ability is closely related to psycho‐physiological refinement – the authors found that higher integration of the electrical brain activity, more mature moral reasoning, and more frequent peak experiences are found in top performers compared to average performers.

The high frequency of peak experiences among top performers reveals the importance of such gratifying inner experiences for the business community.

The research suggests that practical methods for psycho‐physiological refinement – such as the widely researched Transcendental Meditation technique – can be useful in developing more effective leadership. The brain integration scale presented here may be a reliable objective instrument for assessing an individual's leadership and performance capacity.

A unique contribution of the authors' research is to recognize that integrity – an essential requisite for leadership – has a physiological counterpart in the integration seen in the functioning of the brain through electroencephalography.

Social enterprises (SEs) face tensions when combining financial and social missions, and this is particularly evident in the scaling process. Although extant research mainly focuses on SEs that integrate their social and financial missions, this study aims to unpack social impact scaling strategies in differentiated hybrid organizations (DHOs) through the case of African SEs.

The study entails an inductive multiple case study approach based on four case SEs: work integration social enterprises (WISEs) and fair trade producer social enterprises (FTPSEs) in Uganda and Kenya. A total of 24 semi-structured interviews were collected together with multiple secondary data sources and then coded and analyzed through the rigorous Gioia et al. (2013) methodology to build a theoretical model.

The results indicate that SEs, as differentiated hybrids, implement four types of social impact scaling strategies toward beneficiaries and benefits (penetration, bundling, spreading and diversification) and unveil different dual mission tensions generated by each scaling strategy. The study also shows mutually reinforcing mechanisms named cross-bracing actions, which are paradoxical actions connected to one another for navigating tensions and ensuring dual mission during scaling.

This study provides evidence of four strategies for scaling social impact, with associated challenges and response mechanisms based on the cross-bracing effect between social and financial missions. Thus, the research provides a clear framework (social impact scaling matrix) for investigating differentiation in hybridity at scaling and provides new directions on how SEs scale their impact, with implications for social entrepreneurship and dual mission management literature.

The model offers a practical tool for decision-makers in SEs, such as managers and social entrepreneurs, providing insights into what scaling pathways to implement (one or multiples) and, more importantly, the implications and possible solutions. Response mechanisms are also useful for tackling specific tensions, thereby contributing to addressing the challenges of vulnerable, marginalized and low-income individuals. The study also offers implications for policymakers, governments and other ecosystem actors such as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and social investors.

Despite the growing body of literature on scaling social impact, only a few studies have focused on differentiated hybrids, and no evidence has been provided on how they scale only the social impact (without considering commercial scaling). This study brings a new perspective to paradox theory and hybridity, showing paradoxes come into view at scaling, and documenting how from a differentiation approach to hybridity, DHOs also implemented cross-bracing actions, which are reinforcement mechanisms, thus suggesting connections and synergies among the actions in social and financial mission, where such knowledge is required to better comprehend how SEs can achieve a virtuous cycle of profits and reinvestments in social impact.

A comprehensive “health promoting schools” (HPS) approach is advocated by the World Health Organization to foster the health of students. To date, few studies have evaluated schools' capacity to implement it in an optimal way. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework that identifies core features likely to facilitate the incorporation of innovation, such as HPS, into school functioning.

The framework was built by combining dimensions derived from two major strands of literature, i.e. management and HPS. It has taken root in Zahra and George's model of organisation absorptive capacity (AC) for new knowledge but has been adapted to better explore AC in a school context. The contrasting cases of two secondary schools that adopted a HPS approach in Quebec, Canada, for at least three years were used to illustrate the value of the framework.

The framework proposed is a multidimensional model that considers components such as modulators, antecedents, integration mechanisms and strategic levers as potential determinants of AC, i.e. acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation. The conceptual framework helped to qualify and compare AC regarding HPS in the two cases and holds promise to appreciate mechanisms having the greatest influence on it.

The framework can serve as a conceptual guide to facilitate the absorption of innovation in schools and to design future empirical research to better understand the underlying process by which schools strengthen their capacities to become settings conducive to the health of youth.