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The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of the influence of behaviour factors (corporate cultural differences and transformational leadership) on acquisition performance, through the mediating role of speed of post-acquisition change (as a process factor), in the specific context of a transitional economy.

A model was tested on a sample of acquisitions in Serbia carried out by domestic and European companies. In total, 208 valid questionnaires were collected from 10 acquired companies. Linear regression analysis was used to test the research hypotheses. To test the mediator hypothesis, Baron and Kenny's (1986) procedure was used. Statistical significance of indirect or mediated effect was calculated with Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) macro provided by Preacher and Hayes (2004).

Mediator analysis shows that corporate cultural differences and transformational leadership have direct and indirect impacts on acquisition performance.

The results may be significant for managers involved in the processes of acquisitions, in terms of helping them to make appropriate decisions in different phases of an acquisition process, so as to obtain sufficient levels of employee commitment and trust to improve acquisition performance.

This research contributes to a better understanding of the relationships between behaviour factors and acquisition performance. In particular, no research into the speed of post-acquisition changes as a mediator variable between behaviour factors and acquisition performance has previously been conducted, to the best of the authors' knowledge. Thus, this research offers a unique understanding in the transitional economy context of Serbia.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between transformational leadership and post-acquisition performance, introducing into the analysis the mediating effect of employee attitudes toward changes, in the specific context of a transitional economy.

The data were collected from 208 employees (including 91 managers) from ten acquired companies in Serbia. Using exploratory factor analysis, two dimensions of transformational leadership were identified in the context of a transitional economy: the first one refers to inspiring and stimulating the employees, and the second dimension refers to responding to employee problems. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results of the analysis indicate that inspiring and stimulating employees has an indirect impact on post-acquisition performance through the mediating effect of employee attitudes toward changes, whereas responding to employee problems has both direct and indirect impacts on post-acquisition performance.

The results of study may be significant for managers involved in the processes of mergers and acquisitions and may aid them in obtaining adequate levels of employee commitment and trust, which are needed to achieve challenging goals and to improve post-acquisition performance.

The research of the mediating effect of employee attitudes on post-acquisition performance contributes to a better understanding of the relationships between transformational leadership and post-acquisition performance. Research in transitional economies related to subject matter is limited, while in Serbia in particular, there is no prior empirical work on the impact of transformational leadership on post-acquisition performance.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine the impact of organizational culture differences on post-acquisition performance, and second, to provide deeper understanding of the mechanisms through which the impact occurs introducing into the analysis the mediating effect of employee attitudes.

The sample is based on domestic and international acquisitions in Serbia carried out during the period 2002-2011. Linear regression models were fitted according to Baron and Kenny procedures for mediation analysis. Statistical significance of the indirect or mediated effect is calculated by using the bootstrap test.

The results show that organizational culture differences positively impact post-acquisition performance. Moreover, employee attitudes are found to be a partial mediator of the relationship between culture differences and post-acquisition performance.

The presented results are especially useful for managers involved in the processes of acquisitions indicating that culture differences, if properly understood and managed, can be a source of value creation. Further, the results of the analysis indicate that managers must monitor and evaluate employee attitudes towards changes and help employees to face the challenges of change, thereby contributing the improvement of post-acquisition performance.

Previous research of organizational culture differences in transitional economies is limited, and this study is the first empirical investigation of the impact of organizational culture differences on post-acquisition performance in Serbia. This paper aids researchers and practitioners to identify the specific cultural challenges in the context of transitional economies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between acquisitions and inventory performance. Specifically, it analyzes the inventory performance (inventory level) of acquirers and their targets pre- and post-acquisition.

Using several business databases, a sample of 270 horizontal acquisitions by US firms between 1996 and 2004 is subject to multivariate analysis. Various robustness tests are applied to validate the results.

Three main results are found. First, the acquirer’s inventory performance is normally better than its target’s prior to the acquisition, consistent with acquirers taking over less efficient firms rather than cherry picking the more efficient ones. Second, inventory performance improves over time in the post-acquisition period in those cases where the acquirer is more efficient than the target. Third, inventory performance deteriorates over time in the post-acquisition period in those cases where the acquirer is less efficient than the target. The results are consistent with acquisitions being associated with both efficiency gains and efficiency losses due to (in)efficiency transfers from acquirers to targets.

From the management point of view, the study delivers the strongest message to companies that have substantial inventories and for whom efficient inventory management is vital to overall performance. Managers who are unaware of the potential consequences of acquisitions on inventory performance destroy value.

This research complements past research by showing that in spite of their synergetic potential, reducing inventory receives only limited attention in acquisitions.

The international market entry strategy by acquisition is one of the critical options for success in international business. The decision to acquire a local firm is expected to impact the post-entry financial performance of the local firm as the acquirers come with proprietary advantages to improve the overall performance of the acquired company. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the post-acquisition financial performance of acquired foreign subsidiaries and comparable unacquired local firms in Ghana to determine the effect of foreign acquisition on the financial performance of the local subsidiaries.

A quantitative approach was adopted in this study. A sample of 100 locally acquired and non-acquired firms were studied using purposive and convenience sampling method. The research adopted the propensity score matching and the differences in difference methodologies to determine the returns on assets (ROA) of non-acquired local firms and acquired foreign subsidiaries are compared one year pre-acquisition t₁ to two years post-acquisition t₂.

The results demonstrate a higher post-acquisition financial performance of locally acquired foreign subsidiaries in relation to their local counterparts in Ghana. Firms with pre-acquisition modernized ownership structures performed better than state-owned firms and firms with high pre-acquisition absorptive capacity outperformed firms with lower pre-acquisition absorptive capacity. The results also indicate that ROA for acquired local firms in the year of acquisition drops in relation to the year prior to acquisition

A major limitation of this research is that the relative capability of the parent companies and experience in the transfer of knowledge to the acquired local subsidiaries was not considered. The real impact of the various multinationals would have revealed how the capability and competencies of the different parent companies whose subsidiaries this study considered in the paper make a difference in their performance. The study did not also consider the value of parent company participation in the local management of the acquired subsidiaries. Whereas some acquired firms had parent company staff participating in the local management, others did not have same, thus challenging the performance results without any control of this variable. The other limitation of this research is the fact that it did not also consider the experience of the parent company as a factor that can influence the performance of the subsidiary. The more experienced the parent company is in engaging foreign markets, the more likely the support for the subsidiary will result in higher performance as parent company brings previous learnings. Another limitation of this study is that it measures the financials only (ROA) and hence does not provide a 360° assessment of the subsidiary performance, which includes the operational and overall subsidiary effectiveness. This research has not empirically examined all aspects of foreign acquisitions in Ghana and thus has many aspects for future exploration that other researchers may focus on. The paper has not considered the experience and capability of the parent company to transfer technology, innovation and all the advantages of multinationals to the post-acquisition performance of subsidiaries. More experienced multinationals are most likely to transfer knowledge faster to subsidiaries than less experienced ones, thus likely to show better performance post-acquisition than the less experienced ones. The effect of this phenomenon has not been considered in this study. Parent company participation in the local management of the subsidiary can also make a difference in the post-acquisition performance equation but this has not been considered in this research. Some parent companies actively participate in the local subsidiary management as management support for the subsidiary. This might have some effect on the subsidiary post-acquisition performance but this study does consider this. Other researchers may want to look into this factor. Future researchers may also assess the differences in performance of subsidiaries that are wholly owned and partial owned in Ghana. The performance of Greenfield joint ventures and local firm acquisitions can also be studied.

Findings of this research has implications for firms using acquisition as foreign market entry strategy to inform the choice of local partners to select for acquisitions as pre-acquisition ownership structure and absorptive capacity of local Ghanaian firms impact post-acquisitions performance. Ghanaian firms also seeking to attract foreign investments into their businesses will also find the results useful as they organize to meet prospective acquirers’ expectations, for example, building their human capacity and ownership structures, developing export and ensuring debt rations to attract potential acquirers.

Acquisitions as an international market entry strategy continue to gain grounds with lots of research in the area. However, there is scanty research on post-acquisition financial performance, especially in the developing country context, and this paper fills that yawning knowledge gap by comparing acquired and non-acquired local firms in Ghana to determine if foreign acquisitions lead to better ROA.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to M&A literature by explicitly investigating whether cross-border acquisitions involving emerging markets, either as acquirers or as targets, create value and how is the performance outcome in such acquisitions impacted by deal-specific characteristics.

This study uses industry-adjusted operating performance to measure acquisition gains, the Wilcoxon signed rank test to examine value creation potential and OLS regression to evaluate the impact of deal characteristics on acquisition gains.

The authors find very pronounced value destruction when emerging market firms acquire targets in developed markets, the adverse outcome being further aggravated when the mode of acquisition is “tender offer” rather than a “negotiated deal”. On the other hand, when developed market firms acquire targets from emerging markets, there is an even chance of value creation, the outcome being favourably influenced by the pre-acquisition performance of the two firms, relative size of the target and cash (not stock-swap) as the mode of payment.

The findings from this paper offer an important, statistically significant explanation on the value creation potential and the impact of deal characteristics on post-acquisition operating performance in cross-border acquisitions involving emerging market firms. This finding assumes immense significance, given the rapidly changing landscape of global M&A, witnessed through a continuous rise in the volume and value of cross-border acquisitions involving emerging market firms.

Mergers and acquisitions being done by emerging market multinational corporations (EMNCs) increasingly attract scholarly attention. However, conclusions concerning the nature and the theoretical underpinnings of EMNCs’ post-acquisition integration vary significantly, calling for an assessment of the state of affairs in this field. This paper aims to critically review the extant studies on EMNCs’ post-acquisition integration and to make a comparison with advanced economy multinational corporations’ (AMNCs’) post-acquisition integration, in order to formulate an agenda for future research.

A sample of papers from 21 leading journals in the fields of international business, management, human resource management and strategy published between 1991 and March 2018 are included in the literature review. Qualitative content analysis was conducted.

The topics are clustered into the four themes of strategies and processes, influencing factors, acquisition performance and antecedents of post-acquisition integration of EMNCs. The literature on EMNCs and AMNCs converges with regard to the broad methodological and theoretical approaches that have been adopted. Yet, EMNCs and AMNCs diverge on the detailed strategies and behavioral patterns of post-acquisition integration, mostly as a consequence of country of origin factors.

The paper identifies a number of deficiencies within existing research and suggests how they can be addressed in future research. By doing so, the paper deepens the argumentation of the third camp in the “Goldilocks debate” (Cuervo-Cazurra, 2012) arguing that the phenomenon of post-acquisition of EMNCs is “just right” for theory extension and development.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of cross-border acquisitions (CBAs) on the financial and operating performance of acquiring firms from emerging economies in the long-term; the acquiring firms have been segregated into frequent (multiple) and first-time (single) acquirers based on their prior cross-border experience. The intent is to identify if overseas activities bring over and above advantage to multiple acquirers in terms of enhanced financial synergies and reduced costs, motivating them to engage in sequential international transactions.

The paper analyses the impact of CBAs announced and completed during 2004–2013 by Indian companies listed on the NIFTY 500 index. The post-acquisition financial and operating performance of Indian cross-border acquirers has been compared with their pre-acquisition performance. The average performance over three-years immediately preceding the acquisition year constitutes the benchmark for the post-acquisition performance. The post-acquisition period includes a year of integration followed by three successive post-integration years. Therefore, in operational terms, the research period extends from 2001–2017. The long-term performance of frequent (multiple) and first-time (single) Indian acquirers has been investigated comprehensively using a set of 16 financial ratios. The performance has been assessed using the secondary data collected from financial statements of acquiring companies; the financial statements and the list of CBAs by Indian companies have been obtained from Thomson Reuter’s EIKON database.

The financial and operating performance of frequent as well as first-time acquirers have depicted a similarly deteriorating trend during the post-acquisition period. These findings indicate that the international expansion of Indian companies is not guided by synergy creation potential and may be pushed by the overconfidence or over-optimism and agency conflicts of managers. This, perhaps, indicates that firms are being imprudent in investing free cash flows available with them.

The study is the first of its kind. No study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, has analysed the performance of acquiring firms by segregating them into frequent and first-time acquirers using accounting measures of performance. More so, an extensive analysis of the long-term financial and operating performance of acquiring companies is rare to come across in the extant literature.

The contribution revisits existing research on human impacts on the performance of mergers and acquisitions. Findings are grouped into three categories: individual-, organizational- and managerial-related factors. Results show that while research seems various and abounding, influential factors are often studied as static setting approached in isolation, without measuring their direct relation to post-acquisition outcomes.

Most research of post-acquisition integration examines integration of individual business units. The research pays less attention to corporate level integration processes, by which we mean the standardization of integration routines and synchronization of integration activities across a firm’s business units. We argue that corporate level acquisition activities and post-acquisition integration processes strongly influence long term corporate performance, particularly as a firm which comprises interdependent business units becomes geographically diffuse. Acquisitions tend to increase system diversity and goal diversity across business units. Some goal diversity is beneficial, but excessive goal diversity and the existence of system diversity can reduce long run corporate performance by requiring greater managerial effort and increasing the opportunity cost of managerial efforts. The negative effects become stronger as a firm becomes geographically diffuse or if business units are interdependent. Firms that employ active corporate level integration processes – particularly firms that acquire frequently and have interdependent business units – can enhance the benefits and eliminate some of the problems of diversity.