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The purpose of this paper is to report a study of post-integration mechanisms carried out by five multinational mergers and acquisitions (M & A) transactions taken place in Indian context. This study has been woven around the concept of human integration and task integration as separate objectives of acquiring organizations to be achieved.

This study is based on descriptive research design. Qualitative data were collected, where the managers from the acquiring organizations and employees from the acquired firms have taken part in the data collection process through interviews. Interview schedule was developed for managers consisting questions on organizations’ strategy to achieve success post-M & A integration (PMI), while interview schedule developed for employees investigated their reactions after organizational change.

Results revealed that the organizations where human integration mechanisms were given due credence also harbored highly committed employees from their organizational counterparts, whereas the transactions where task integration objective was given preference while ignoring human integration, employees developed the negative emotions of anger and insecurity for their newly merged firm.

The M & A literature observes a huge gap in the field of M & As in India, especially in PMI mechanisms worldwide, as the emphasis has always been on financial and operational aspects of M & As. Thus, this study addresses this gap in research and opens the avenues for M & A researchers to consider HR as the strategic partner during M & As.

The study has important implications for MNCs operating in India and for those which want to excel the Indian market through M & A.

This paper is based on the original field work and every information given is authentic.

Cross-cultural mergers and acquisitions (M&As) can generate the number of negative feelings and emotions among the survivors of the deal. These negative outcomes can range from lowered commitment, lack of productivity, and talent loss to the more serious work alienation. Hence, this chapter is an attempt to identify the employees’ level of commitment and their feelings of alienation in the post-M&A integration phase. Also, provided training has proven to be important in building employee commitment and mitigating the feelings of alienation, this studies the relationship of these psychological outcomes with the different kinds of training provided to them during post-M&A situations. The vast literature review studied revealed a significant relationship between employees’ perceived effectiveness of training and their level of commitment with the newly merged firm, while an inverse relationship was found with employees’ feelings of alienation. This chapter has crucial implications for researchers and practitioners.

This empirical investigation studies the correlates and predictors of employees’ psychological outcomes during mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the context of India. This study examined the role of different types of training initiatives (awareness training, human capital development training, and cross-cultural training) on building employees feeling of psychological empowerment and thriving. Further, second-order attitudes were studied in the form of employee satisfaction and commitment. A cross-sectional research design was adopted where quantitative and qualitative data were collected to investigate the interplay between the variables. Data were collected on an adapted standardized questionnaire from the employees of a public sector organization (N = 117) which had merged with a software company to deliver its IT services. Descriptive analysis, multiple correlational analysis, and stepwise regression analysis have assisted in exploring the different relationships amongst the variables. This study produces a prescriptive framework for merger success based on the model of growth and thriving (Spreitzer & Porath, 2012). Broadly, the results point towards the facilitative role of training in developing feelings of psychological empowerment, thriving, commitment and satisfaction with the merger, however qualitative data identified significant cultural undercurrents.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the direct effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on domestic target firms’ profitability gains, in India, post-acquisition. In particular, it focuses on identifying the importance of firms’ heterogeneities on the effects, taking into account the source of FDI, the intensity of firm interaction, and the target firms’ technology-absorptive capacity. Most importantly, the paper investigates whether the estimates depend on a combined rather than single impact of these heterogeneities.

To control for the possibility of selection bias and endogeneity, this empirical analysis uses a methodology that combines propensity score matching and difference-in-differences (PSM–DID) in adopting a comprehensive data set of both foreign- and Indian-acquired firms that were purchased through mergers and acquisitions in India between 1991 and 2013.

The analysis reveals four major findings. First, overall, the post-foreign acquisition target firms’ performance gains were positive and varied by the heterogeneous technology transfer capacity of the foreign investor. Second, it is possible that target firms located in industrial clusters with more foreign agglomeration experienced larger profitability gains through more dynamic firm interactions in terms of spillovers. Third, Indian targets with higher technology-absorptive capacity benefitted in higher profitability gains from acquiring and assimilating the superior technology that is transferred from foreign investors. Finally, an optimal combination of Indian target firms with higher technology-absorptive capacity and foreign investors with higher technology transfer capacity maximizes profitability gains, post-acquisition. This synergy effect is particularly prominent in clusters where more foreign firms agglomerate.

This study captures the true direct effect of FDI by adjusting the combined causal effects of various inherent heterogeneities in the target firms’ performance, thus correcting any possible bias, which few previous studies have addressed.

Post-merger integration (PMI) is driven by coevolving processes. By integrating the literature on acquisitions with that of knowledge networks, this paper highlights different reconstruction mechanisms for dual knowledge networks during PMI – namely, internal knowledge network coupling and external knowledge network embeddedness. This paper aims to examine their coevolutionary relationships with PMI.

A coevolutionary framework is tested using a latent growth model and cross-lagged models. The analysis is based on longitudinal data collected from 116 Chinese technology-sourcing overseas merger and acquisition firms.

This paper unearths a novel idea that variations in post-merger reconstruction of dual knowledge networks can explain why some acquirers increase the degree of integration faster than the others. The results show that the internal knowledge network coupling leads to more knowledge similarity and, in turn, causes a higher degree of integration. The external knowledge network embeddedness also causes higher relative network status of the acquirer, which consequently leads to a higher degree of integration. Furthermore, results from cross-lagged models confirm that an increase in the degree of integration positively influences subsequent changes in the internal knowledge network coupling and external knowledge network embeddedness, thus forming a coevolutionary relationship over time.

This paper responds to recent calls for more insights into the dynamics of PMI. By highlighting different reconstruction mechanisms for internal and external knowledge networks during PMI, this paper explains why it is important to understand PMI dynamics from a dual knowledge network perspective. This paper is the first to adopt a coevolutionary perspective and provide a more comprehensive dynamic framework between PMI and reconstruction of dual knowledge networks. Besides, this paper contributes to the research on emerging market multinational corporations’ cross-border merger and acquisition integration from a dynamic perspective, revealing the time effects of traditionally favored light-touch integration.

Achieving a highly satisfied and committed workforce, during post-merger integration (PMI), has made employees’ perceived organizational justice a vital construct in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) research. For example, employee attitudes like satisfaction and commitment influence overall M&A outcomes, but employee responses primarily depend on their perceptions of justice for the merged organization. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the cause and effect of employees’ perceptions of justice during M&A.

This research used a mixed-methods research design (qual and quan). The quantitative investigation of 207 M&A survivors from 3 M&A deals examined the relationship between perceived organizational justice (three dimensions) with employees’ level of affective commitment and satisfaction during PMI. The multivariate analysis was performed to analyze this data. A thorough thematic content analysis of the in-depth interviews of ten M&A experts and strategists helped to develop a detailed theoretical model of justice during M&A.

The resultant model highlighted the three antecedents of perceptions of justice, i.e. human integration, cultural integration and task integration, which together explained the employees’ perception of justice during M&A. Perception of justice was further found to influence employees’ psychological outcomes and overall synergy realization.

The current study adds to the literature by providing a holistic understanding of the justice phenomenon during M&A by focusing on its antecedents and outcomes, and thus, proposes a detailed framework. The current study also emphasizes on the relative importance of procedural and interactional justice over distributive justice in determining employee attitudes toward change.

Despite enormous literature on Human Resource Management (HRM) practices in the context of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As), researchers have not come up with a synthesis that integrates the role and importance of HRM practices during M&As. This study aims to identify, analyse and synthesise existing literature to discover associated HRM practices that facilitate organisational change during M&As.

Bibliometric analysis is performed using 473 research articles entailing 871 authors from 62 countries (published in Scopus and WoS listed journals), followed by a thematic cluster analysis using bibliographic coupling. The analysis is performed using different means as citation analysis, cluster analysis and keyword analysis to reveal the most significant publications, authors, keywords, trends and future research questions.

The results are primarily descriptive and aim at capturing a panoramic view of what was already written on the topic so far. The bibliometric analysis is conducted using different means like citation analysis, cluster analysis and keyword analysis to reveal the most significant publications, notable authors, keywords, current research trends and future research questions. Further, the bibliographic coupling analysis led to the identification of the following six clusters: (1) coping strategies during and post-M&As; (2) changes in individual and organisational identification during and post-M&As; (3) role of cultural and transformational leadership in M&As success; (4) HRM practices to develop employee capabilities post-M&As; (5) case studies and success stories of M&As; and (6) organisational readiness for M&As.

This study has theoretical and practical implications and suggests future research directions. The authors also propose an abstruse model for HRM practices during M&A process for further investigation.

This is the first bibliometric study to explore the vast extant literature in M&A research related to the role of HRM practices in the execution of successful M&As.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of employees’ element of organizational trust with the processes and practices of the merged organization during post-M & A integration post-merger integration (PMI) phase. Specifically the variables of employees’ perceptions of effectiveness of HR initiatives, communication, and cultural convergence were studied as important determinants of employees’ trust.

A mixed method research design was adopted, where quantitative data were collected through questionnaires, and the qualitative support has been gained asking open ended elaborated questions. The analysis was performed on the data obtained from 117 respondents having experienced merger or acquisition in past two to three years. Univariate and bivariate analysis were performed on the data using SPSS.

The results of the study indicated the significant positive relationship amongst the variables understudy. It has been found that the poor management of the underlined processes and practices during PMI phase would negatively impact the employees’ phenomenon of trust in the merged organization.

This research has significant implications for researchers and practitioners. This study contributes to the understanding of the psychological outcomes of M & A survivors as an imperative for strategic human resource management.

This research is an extension of M & A performance research in terms of psychological variables, and is an initiative to discuss M & A cases from the context of a fast developing economy.

The purpose of this study is to follw the process perspective approach in post-M&A (mergers and acquisitions) integration studies, with a focus on human resource function, to make the research literature relevant to HR integration process up to date.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, limited systematic literature review and study in this interface has previously been published.

Therefore, this conceptual study filled in the research gap by pointing out a clear framework on HR integration in cross-border post-acquisitions, reviewing both the content and process of HR integration. This paper contributes to future research on the HR integration process perspective in theoretical directions.

It addresses the gap in research and opens the avenues for M&A researchers to consider HR as the strategic partner during M&As and to study HR aspects in an integrated process perspective view. This approach complements socialized reviews and it suggests a process perspective on how to dispersed themes and interrelate topics. It provide a clear process perspective helps to develop a concurrent research agenda, which can guide future work in the field.