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This study concerns two aspects of the integration process critical for the success of acquisitions: (1) levels of human integration and task integration and (2) speeds of human integration and task integration. The purpose of this study is to examine the interaction effects of human/task integration level and human integration speed advantage on acquisition performance.

This study collected data of companies in the Taiwanese high-tech industries at the financial, organizational and industrial levels to examine the proposed hypotheses. Corporate financial and patent data were collected from the Taiwan Securities and Futures Commission databases and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) databases. The organizational level data were collected from 142 publicly traded related acquisitions from 2008 to 2009 in the Taiwanese high-tech industries.

The results show that (1) a high level of human integration positively affects technological performance; (2) the interaction term of human integration level and human integration speed advantage (i.e., relatively faster human integration coupled with slower task integration) positively affects technological performance; and (3) the interaction term of task integration level and human integration speed advantage positively affects technological performance.

The originality of this study lies in advancing our understanding of how complex interactions between human/task integration level and human integration speed advantage affect acquisition performance.

This chapter reviews three main issues in the interactions between air transport and high-speed rail (HSR) in China, namely the interaction between low-cost carriers (LCCs) and HSR, HSR speed effect on airlines, and airline–HSR integration. Studies on these three aspects of airline–HSR interactions have yet been well reviewed, and our chapter aims to fill in this gap. In this chapter, we comprehensively survey literature on the topics, especially studies on Chinese markets that have recently witnessed major HSR developments (and have planned further large-scale HSR expansion in the coming years). Our review shows that, first, compared to full-service carriers, LCCs face fiercer competition from HSR. However, the expansion of HSR network in China can be better coordinated with LCC development. Second, HSR speed exerts two countervailing effects on airline demand and price (the “travel-time” effect and “safety” effect, respectively). Specifically, an HSR speed reduction can have a positive effect on airlines due to longer HSR travel time, but a negative effect on airlines due to improved perception on HSR safety. Third, airline–HSR integration can be implemented through cooperation between airlines and HSR operators and through co-location of airports and HSR stations and can have important implications for intermodal transport and social welfare.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between top management team (TMT) internal social capital and strategic decision-making speed, and further explore role of TMT behavioral integration in their relationship. It reveals how TMT internal social capital impacts strategic decision-making speed.

On the basis of the social capital theory and upper echelons theory, at first, a model about TMT internal social capital and strategic decision-making speed is proposed by exploratory case study. Then, the data obtained via questionnaire from 67 TMTs by software SPSS 19.0 and AMOS 17.0 are analyzed, and the theoretical hypotheses as mentioned above are verified.

The empirical study found that different dimensions of TMT internal social capital have significant positive impact on TMT behavioral integrity; TMT behavioral integrity has significant positive impact on strategic decision-making speed; and TMT behavioral integrity as an intermediary variable played a brokering role in the relationship between TMT internal social capital and strategic decision-making speed.

The study enriches the empirical test on the relationship between TMT internal social capital and decision speed, thereby helping the authors further understand how to improve the speed of strategic decision making in TMT.

This study aims to confirm earlier findings that differences between merger and acquisition (M&A) participant firms are a hurdle for successful mergers and shows that merger outcomes can also be affected by the post-merger integration duration (PMID).

Experimental research on distinct cultures developed within experimental pre-merger subject groups is used to compare pre- and post-integration performances.

This study finds that firm distance (i.e. inherent differences between pre-merger firms) negatively influences merger success; no significant relationship between firm distance and PMID exists and PMID is positively related to merger success. Specifically, a slower integration minimizes conflicts between merger partners, enhances trust-building and reduces the disruption of existing resources and processes in both firms, which may benefit M&As. By contrast, a fast integration that shortens the overall integration process may discourage the combined entity from recognizing the intended synergy quickly.

The new finding that PMID can affect merger outcomes invites empirical validation. This study presents experimental evidence that prolonged, well-structured post-merger integration may compensate for the negative time-variant issues associated with PMID.

Organizational support for collaborative learning between professional members should be a strategic consideration for firms so that acquiring business capabilities can be more natural and cost-efficient than building internal capabilities despite possibly slowing down the integration process. Encouraging a transfer of technical and client knowledge between the combined members can create value and understand differences in both the form and content of each firm’s knowledge base and the pre-existing mechanisms for sharing knowledge. It may lower the level of resistance in knowledge transfer.

While M&As may better facilitate the cost-effective expansion of business offerings than building capabilities internally, they can require considerable time, preventing many firms from realizing their intended outcomes. Nevertheless, less attention has been focused on PMID and its influence on M&As. This study is the first to use experimental research to examine the effects of PMID on merger success.

Design-for-variety (DFV) practices aim to help manufacturers to manage and mitigate the negative impact of product variety on operational performance. Theory suggests that designing products according to DFV practices increases operational performance by allowing more efficient processing of products, capitalizing on commonalities and by supporting cross-functional and cross-boundary coordination through simplifying product designs. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the latter proposition, and especially the mediating role of internal, supplier and customer integration in the relationship between DFV and operational performance.

Data collected in 2014 among 702 manufacturers from 22 countries as part of the 6th International Manufacturing Strategy Survey are analyzed through mediated regression analysis using SPSS 25, AMOS and PROCESS v3.1 software.

DFV affects cost/speed, quality, delivery, flexibility and service performance positively. Except for the role of customer integration in the DFV-cost/speed relationship, internal, supplier and customer integration partially mediate the relationship between DFV and operational performance.

In addition to allowing a more efficient processing of products, the positive effect of DFV on performance is also explained by the fact that DFV practices support cross-functional and supply chain integration. These practices allow manufacturers to create a set of design rules easily understood and communicated within and across organizational boundaries.

While previous research tends to consider one DFV practice and limited sets of integration mechanisms and performance dimensions, this paper consolidates the most common DFV practices into one construct and encompasses the three forms of integration and six performance dimensions dominating the DFV literature.

The purpose of this paper is to examine operational-level implementation issues regarding mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in general, and resource combination and integration at the functional marketing level in particular.

The paper introduces four factors (i.e. collaboration, interaction, marketing synergy, and the realignment of marketing resources) that support successful M&A marketing integration and enhance overall M&A performance.

The results indicate that marketing synergy and the realignment of marketing resources contribute significantly to the extent of integration. At the same time, the authors find a significant but negative relationship between the interaction dimension and the speed of integration.

The cultural integration of firms that feature different management styles and organizational cultures has been recognized as a particularly challenging aspect of cross-border M&As. This study explains factors that contribute to effective marketing integration in M&As.

The purpose of this paper is to detect and challenge generally accepted management and consulting practice in Mergers & Acquisitions (M&As). M&As have been an important issue in strategic management and corporate development for decades. The integration process of two separate entities has been found to be of importance, and has, accordingly, received a significant amount of attention by research, management and consulting literature. Based on these insights, managers tend to rely on well-established and generally accepted rules developed by practice and consultants that should support a successful integration process and the generation of value. Nonetheless, M&As’ efforts still often fail to create value. So is the common practice of the established drivers and beneficial consequences of the integration of M&As right, or do the experiences of consultants, companies and managers reveal something different?

To understand these challenges, the authors spent four years studying M&A projects and subsequent integration processes of more than 400 companies that engaged in M&A efforts. The data derived from four survey-based quantitative studies among more than 430 CEOs, CFOs and other senior managers in the field of M&As and personal interviews that were conducted to get in-depth insights.

This extensive research on the efforts and projects of M&As over many years and including many companies reveals that successful integration processes are complex, social and culturally dependent endeavors and that the application of commonly accepted and established principles oversimplifies and disregards the interdependencies.

The present paper unveils four established principles concerning the successful integration after M&As as tenacious myths and provides more differentiated insights into value-destroying and value-creating mechanisms in M&As.

Management researchers and practitioners point out that integration processes during the post-merger integration period are critical to synergistic effects and performance of the merged companies over time. However, the relation between the post-merger integration process, synergy potential exploitation, and its influence on M&A deal success, especially in the case of international M&A, is not clear. Moreover, the results of empirical studies are inconsistent and even contradictory. This chapter adds to the existing body of knowledge by developing a model, based on the analysis of the acquisition by Teva Pharmaceuticals of the Hungarian Biogal and of the Dutch Pharmachemie. The model addresses the key factors such as the effect of corporate culture differences, and synergy potential between the acquiring and acquired firms on the international M&A performance.

A review of extant literatures shows that most mergers fail during the integration process. Little is known about how the realization of operating synergies and dissemination of available know-how in the merged firm are managed in the post-merger phase. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights on the process of integrating operating synergies by focusing on the critical success factors that facilitate integration of the skills of merged banks.

The authors draw on three research traditions in merger literature and reconcile them with three dimensions of integration. In-depth interviews were conducted with Nordea managers from four Nordic countries.

Having learned from the mistakes of previous mergers, Nordea’s “guiding star” for managing its post-merger integration process was expressed as focus, speed and performance from top management. A hands-on leadership style, vision-led thinking, a bias for action, involvement of the entire staff, continuous focus on customers, open and honest communication with employees are critical to success.

The motive for a merger has an important impact on the degree of interaction and degree of integration. The authors expand on previous findings by, among other things, synthesizing three theoretical lenses into an integrative model, and addresses post-merger issues with a sharp eye towards clear managerial relevance.

The authors respond to the call to expand inter-firm relationships study beyond the narrow dyadic relationship focus and not solely conceptualize mergers as one of companies’ entry modes to implement mechanistic growth strategy. The three dimensions of integration imbued with three research traditions in merger literature provides us with a conceptual lens to conceive mergers also as engines for change emerging from the merged firms to enhance a bespoke performance of their business process.

Increasing chances of firm survival requires enduring entrepreneurship or the ability to balance competing demands for exploration and exploitation. We developed how acquisitions can provide needed disruption to change a firm’s dominant orientation toward exploration or exploitation or enable a continued focus on a firm’s dominant orientation. The result is a new typology for acquisition integration associated with different pre- and post-acquisition characteristics. For example, a firm with an exploitation orientation faces different integration challenges in acquiring targets with an exploration or exploitation orientation. We also distinguished between human and task integration to enable more nuanced integration decisions that help to reconcile conflicting findings on acquisition integration decisions. Implications for management research and practice were discussed.