International acquisition performance and experience: A resource-based view. Evidence from French acquisitions in the United States (1988–2004)

Does an acquirer with extensive acquisition experience outperform an acquirer with little or no acquisition experience? Does an acquirer with varied growth mode experience (i.e. a company undertaking not only acquisitions but also joint ventures) outperform a company that has very homogeneous experience (i.e. a company growing exclusively through acquisitions)? The main purpose of our article is to examine these two questions in-depth and to attempt to provide some answers. The questions led us to analyze the valuation effect of the acquirer's experience for 291 French acquisitions in the United States. The results were mixed with regard to the relationship between acquisition performance, acquisition experience and heterogeneous experience. On the one hand we found no relationship between the acquisition performance and heterogeneous experience of French acquirers, which is not consistent with the literature on stock market valuation of homogeneous “experience trajectories” [Singh, H., Zollo, M., 1998. The impact of knowledge codification, experience trajectories and integration strategies on the performance of corporate acquisitions. Working Paper INSEAD, 98,62,SM.]. On the other hand, our findings indicate that the relationship between the acquisition performance and acquisition experience of French acquirers follows a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) distribution.     

联盟企业的战略导向与知识获取——控制机制使用的中介与干预作用

探讨了联盟企业的控制机制使用对于其战略导向与知识获取间关系的中介与干预作用.目的在于揭示不同控制机制使用对于联盟企业的战略导向与知识获取间关系的影响效果及作用机制.通过对389家联盟企业的实证研究发现,信任控制是市场导向与知识获取的中介变量,也是企业家导向与知识获取的正干预变量;契约控制是企业家导向与知识获取的中介变量,却不是市场导向与知识获取的负干预变量.该项研究结论对于发展战略联盟管理文献、促进联盟企业的知识获取具有重要的理论价值与实践指导意义.     

Effects of Firm-specific and Country-specific Advantages on Relative Acquisition Size in Service Sector Cross-Border Acquisitions: An Empirical Examination

Using a sample of 348 service sector cross-border acquisitions by U.S. firms in 44 countries during 1990–2006, our study seeks to identify factors that influence relative acquisition size (acquisition transaction value as a percentage of acquiring firm's asset value). Our findings indicate that firm-specific advantages (FSAs) in the form of available financial slack and target industry knowledge were positively associated with relative acquisition size. However, contrary to expectations, we observed a negative relationship between cross-border acquisition experience and relative acquisition size. In addition, our results suggest that country-specific advantages (CSAs) associated with higher market potential, lower political risk, and greater cultural similarity contributed to increased relative acquisition size in service industry cross-border acquisitions. Finally, our analysis reveals that the relationship between available financial slack and relative acquisition size is contingent on cultural similarity with the relationship being more pronounced when cultural similarity is high.     

POM Forum: Transfer of Changing Production Know‐How

Even with the rich literature on knowledge management, we still don't know enough about how the rate of change in production‐know‐how affects the choice of mechanisms for its transfer. Codifying tacit know‐how helps, but codification becomes more challenging as the know‐how changes more frequently. Transfer of tacit know‐how becomes much more complicated when it changes often. We need more research in this area, particularly to help production and operations managers who must ultimately use the new know‐how and change their companies' production processes. The paper suggests a framework as a step in that direction. The framework focuses on the interplay between the level of codification and the rate of change of production know‐how, and identifies four zones for classifying production know‐how: “slow and codified,” “slow and tacit,” “fast and codified,” and “fast and tacit.” Examples from McDonald̂s, Club Med, Intel, and AOL are used to illustrate primary transfer mechanisms for each zone (manuals and systems, people, joint‐development, and projects, respectively). Appropriate absorptive capacities in the production units for each zone are also identified. Since the ultimate responsibility of operations managers is to improve (i.e., change) their production know‐how as fast as possible, they would be wise to adopt policies that are closer to those suited for the “fast and codified” zone. Intel and Toyota show good models.     

Learning How and Learning What: Effects of Tacit and Codified Knowledge on Performance Improvement Following Technology Adoption

This paper examines effects of tacit and codified knowledge on performance improvement as organizations gain experience with a new technology. We draw from knowledge management and learning curve research to predict improvement rate heterogeneity across organizations. We first note that the same technology can present opportunities for improvement along more than one dimension, such as efficiency and breadth of use. We compare improvement for two dimensions: one in which the acquisition of codified knowledge leads to improvement and another in which improvement requires tacit knowledge. We hypothesize that improvement rates across organizations will be more heterogeneous for dimensions of performance that rely on tacit knowledge than for those that rely on codified knowledge (H1), and that group membership stability predicts improvement rates for dimensions relying on tacit knowledge (H2). We further hypothesize that when performance relies on codified knowledge, later adopters should improve more quickly than earlier adopters (H3). All three hypotheses are supported in a study of 15 hospitals learning to use a new surgical technology. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Gaining from the global ambitions of emerging economy enterprises: An analysis of the decision to sell a German firm to a Chinese acquirer

This paper examines the issue of cross-border acquisitions by companies from emerging economies in industrialised countries: an important phenomenon that has recently found increasing emphasis in international business research. In analysing Chinese acquisitions of German firms in the machinery and equipment industry, the paper addresses the question of why firms from industrialised countries are sold to companies from emerging economies. Several real and imagined reasons may induce the German side not to sell; nevertheless, this type of acquisition occurs with increasing frequency. Using case study evidence and interview data, the study finds explanations for the decision to sell to a Chinese company. The results show that German firms can gain substantially from the global ambitions of the Chinese firms for advancement of their own business objectives. This is due to complementarities in the motivations for engaging in the deals, as well as the underlying strategic needs of both firms. In addition, the specific nature of the cooperation between both firms instils in the German managers a sense of control and security—either real or merely perceived—creating conditions that are favourable to the selling decision. Most importantly, in the context of emerging economy enterprises acquiring advanced economy firms, motivations on both sides of the acquisitions appear to go beyond the commonly known goals such as capital transfer and additional market access, as the acquisitions provide the companies involved with conditions favourable to expansion into previously inaccessible market segments. The findings of this study provide useful guidance for the development of future strategic relationships between firms from industrialised and emerging economies.     

我国公司A+H交叉上市的溢出效应分析

交叉上市对一国国内市场和国内公司的发展有重要的影响.本文通过实证考察我国公司以A H方式交叉上市对A股市场的影响,揭示了我国交叉上市的溢出效应.研究结果显示,A H交叉上市对A股市场的影响主要表现在资金分流效应(市场扩容)的负面影响上,分散风险效应等正面影响尚未有效发挥作用.因此,监管层在推出海外上市公司回国交叉上市的鼓励政策时,至少在短期内必须考虑内地市场对扩容的承受能力.     

基于多Agent仿真的组织学习与知识水平关系研究

运用多智能体仿真模型从微观层面构建组织知识学习仿真模型,研究在组织内部人员流动和组织外部环境变动的情况下,组织知识编码策略、组织内部人际学习速度和组织人员编码知识学习速度对组织知识水平的影响.研究结果表明,在外部环境变动的情况下.适当的人员变动有利于提高组织知识水平,二者的关系呈倒U型结构;在内外环境稳定的情况下,人际学习速度与组织知识水平的关系也呈倒U型结构,但在组织内外环境变动的情况下,高人际学习速度有利于提高组织知识水平;频繁的组织知识编码能在短时间内提高组织知识水平,但影响组织知识的异构性,不利于组织长期知识水平的提高;在外部环境变动的情况下,适当的知识编码策略有利于缓解环境变动对组织知识水平的负面影响.从理论上扩展和验证了现有模型,从实践上为组织文化氛围建设、知识编码管理和人力资源管理提供启示.     

The Alliance Experience Transfer Effect: The Case of Industry Convergence in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry

A central premise of the industry change literature is that firms change their strategic actions when an industry changes. Industry convergence (IC), the blending of boundaries between industries creating competition among firms that previously did not compete, is increasingly impacting many industries and is a salient case of industry change. Acquisitions are an important action shaping the course of IC because they trigger imitation and bandwagon effects further accelerating IC. This paper focuses on why and when learning from alliances reduces uncertainty resulting in acquisitions during IC: an ‘alliance experience transfer effect’. We demonstrate the utility of this mechanism for the substitution‐based form of IC that occurred between the telecommunications equipment and computer networking industries. Our key insight is that when the extent of IC is low there are significant transfer effects but, as the extent of IC increases, firms have access to an expanding volume and diversity of information sources that reduce uncertainty, thus weakening the transfer effect mechanism. We contribute to the alliance–acquisition relationship and learning literatures by demonstrating that the alliance experience transfer effect mechanism explains changes in firm strategic action (alliancing and acquiring) as the extent of IC changes. We also introduce a semi‐convergence perspective by directly measuring the extent of IC.     

Managing competence acquisition and financial performance: An empirical study of how small firms use competence acquisition strategies

Past research has neglected how small firms manage competence acquisition. Based on transaction cost literature, this article identifies competence acquisition management strategies and their implications for performance. We explore this issue using survey data from 842 small, knowledge-intensive firms. The results outline four aspects of competence acquisition management: (1) competence absorbers, (2) social acquirers, (3) market acquirers, and (4) nonacquirers. Furthermore, we hypothesized and found that market acquirers score higher in terms of financial performance than firms following the other strategies. The market acquirer strategy proved particularly effective under conditions of high dynamism.     

Innovative Knowledge Transfer Patterns of Group-Affiliated Companies: The effects on the Performance of Foreign Subsidiaries

The objectives of this paper are to determine the patterns of innovative knowledge transfer strategies of globalized group-affiliated companies (GACs) from emerging markets and to assess the effects of these patterns on the performance of foreign subsidiaries. The sample are comprised of 52 Korean business groups, called chaebols, which consist of 181 parent firms and their 1,068 foreign subsidiaries as of the end of 2009. In the study, we employ the perspectives of organizational learning and internal resource-based theories of the organization, and the results are assessed based on cluster and post-hoc regression analyses. The authors identify five distinct groups of innovative knowledge transfer patterns, i.e., 1) small inactivator, 2) hyperactive transferor, 3) laissez faire exploiter, 4) hands-on exchange avoider, and 5) moderate researcher. Our cluster and post-hoc regression analyses support the main hypotheses, i.e., 1) there will be differences in patterns of innovative knowledge transfer strategies of globalized GACs within chaebols; and 2) these differences will influence the performance of foreign subsidiaries. Our contribution to the extant literature is to fill the vacuum that exists in the current empirical studies on 1) a positive vs. negative balance of exploratory and exploitative innovative knowledge exchanges among GACs within a business group and 2) the phenomenal patterns of innovative knowledge transfer and their effects on the performance of foreign subsidiaries in the context of emerging market GACs. Therefore, our analyses advance the research in the area of innovative knowledge management in the context of the emerging market business groups.     

The Role of Strategic Agility in Acquisitions

The aim of the present study is to examine the role of strategic agility as a component of the acquisition process by investigating its constituent elements and effects on knowledge transfer in the context of acquisitions. The study also elaborates on the relationship between knowledge transfer and performance in acquisitions. We test our theoretical model on a quantitative data set of acquisitions conducted by Finnish companies.     

Too Big to Learn: The Effects of Major Acquisition Failures on Subsequent Acquisition Divestment

We examine whether firms learn from their major acquisition failures. Drawing from a threat‐rigidity theoretical framework, we suggest that firms do not learn from their major acquisition failures. Furthermore, we hypothesize that host‐country experience reinforces the negative effects of major acquisition failures. Our research hypotheses are tested using an event history analysis of 741 acquisitions undertaken by French listed and non‐listed firms in the USA between January 1988 and December 2008. We use failure divestment (divestment resulting from acquisition failure) as a proxy for acquisition performance. Consistent with our theoretical framework, we find that major acquisition failures have a negative impact on future acquisition performance. Furthermore, we find that such negative effects are reinforced by firms’ host‐country experience.     

Market reactions to acquisition announcements: The importance of signaling ‘why’ and ‘where’

Acquisitions are risky events but not all acquisitions involve the same levels of risk. We suggest that the announced acquisition motive – the ‘why’ of the acquisition – is an important risk signal. We categorize acquisition motives and distinguish between acquisitions with ‘pure explore’ and ‘pure exploit’ motives. Recognizing that most acquisitions have multiple motives, we identify acquisitions with ‘ambidextrous’ motives – that is different combinations of explorative and exploitative motives – too. Then, building on recent contributions to signaling theory, we argue that the ‘why’ will matter more, if the ‘where’ pertains to a high-risk setting. We measure this using target-to-acquirer industry relatedness. We find that the market reacts more positively to pure acquisitions, aimed at exploration or exploitation, compared to ambidextrous acquisitions. We show that the market reacts more positively to ambidextrous acquisitions orientated towards exploitation than ambidextrous acquisitions orientated toward exploration. Finally, we find that relatedness moderates this relationship, in that the market is more willing to tolerate exploration in a related industry. Our core contribution is to the literatures on acquisition motives and ambidexterity. We provide new insights into the incidence of specific motives, the ways in which they are mixed, and the market's reaction to their announcement. In addition, we contribute to the emerging literature that takes on behavioral perspective of market reactions by showing that the ‘why’ and ‘where’ of an acquisition matter.     

Dynamic capabilities and firm performance

This paper juxtaposes conflicting claims about the relationship between codified dynamic capabilities and firm performance at different levels of environmental dynamism. Furthermore, it argues that the contradictory propositions and findings in prior research are due to said relationship being contingent on key, yet thus far overlooked and unaccounted for, factors internal to the firm such as dynamism exposure and asset base complexity. Empirical tests in the context of the mutual funds industry provide evidence that the performance contribution of codified dynamic capabilities does decline as environmental dynamism increases, yet for any given level of environmental dynamism the magnitude and even the sign of the performance contribution of codified dynamic capabilities are significantly influenced by firms’ dynamism exposure and asset base complexity. Going beyond received wisdom, this study advances a more nuanced contingency approach to dynamic capabilities which contributes to a better understanding of how the value of dynamic capabilities is shaped by a complex interplay of environmental and internal factors.     

联盟管理实践获取与联盟成功：被调节的中介效应

近年来,企业间战略联盟在全世界范围内越来越普遍。联盟的高失败率使企业界和理论界人士开始关注如何实现联盟成功。在长期的联盟活动中,联盟企业都积累了各自独特的一整套被称为联盟管理实践的方法、流程和技能,以提高联盟管理能力、实现联盟预期目标。依据组织学习和关系理论,联盟企业能够从合作伙伴那里获取有价值的联盟管理实践并将其应用于自身的联盟管理活动,这一过程必然有益于联盟管理。然而,鲜有研究探讨联盟管理实践获取行为对联盟成功的影响。 基于以上考虑,引入联盟管理能力和共同行动两个概念,分别作为中介变量和调节变量,构建一个被调节的中介效应模型,以更好地揭示联盟管理实践获取对联盟成功的作用机理。为了检验上述被调节的中介效应模型及相关的作用机理,利用从中国大陆收集的调研数据进行实证研究。最终的样本包含205家联盟企业,且每家企业有两位关键信息提供者,综合采用逐步线性回归和被调节的路径分析方法验证假设。 研究结果表明,联盟管理实践获取通过联盟管理能力这一中介机制最终促进联盟成功,共同行动正向调节联盟管理能力与联盟成功的关系,存在假设中的被调节的中介效应。也就是说,联盟管理实践获取对联盟成功的影响需要通过提升联盟管理能力来实现;同时,联盟双方共同行动水平越高,这一过程越容易实现。 联盟管理实践获取为解释联盟成功的作用机理提供了一个新的视角,拓展了联盟管理能力方面的研究,尤其表现为同时关注联盟管理能力的前因和结果,将组织学习理论和关系理论统一整合到联盟成功研究的框架下,这可视为两大理论的创新性应用。此外,研究结果为现实中联盟企业实现联盟成功指出一条新路,即从合作伙伴处获取有价值的联盟管理实践以促进联盟成功。     

External technology acquisition and product innovativeness: The moderating roles of R&D investment and configurational context

An increasing number of studies in technology/innovation management contribute to the understanding of the relationship between external technology acquisition and product innovation performance. On the other hand, the meta-analytic reviews of new product development literature indicate a positive impact of product innovativeness on product innovation performance. However, existing research has not examined the link between external technology acquisition and product innovativeness. This study, therefore, aims to fill this gap of knowledge by investigating the external technology acquisition—product innovativeness relationship and examining the moderating roles of R&D investment and configurational context on this link. Based on a panel sample of 105 high-technology firms over a six-year period, a least squared dummy variable s model reveals interesting results. First, external technology acquisition has a positive impact on product innovativeness. Second, R&D investment increases the effect of external technology acquisition on product innovativeness. Lastly, firm size exhibits a negative effect on the contribution of external technology acquisition to product innovativeness. However, firm age positively impacts the relationship between external technology acquisition and product innovativeness. In addition, this study reveals a positive effect of product innovativeness on firm growth.     

Understanding knowledge transfer in M&As: An integration of resource orchestration and social capital theories and evidence from UK acquiring firms

Whileknowledge transfer is one of the key components in determining Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) success, the current M&A literature has produced inconsistent findings regarding its antecedents and consequences. To address this research gap, this study explores the roles of functional integration and shared goals in facilitating knowledge transfer, which will in turn determine M&A success. To provide a more nuanced understanding of knowledge transfer, this study examines bilateral knowledge flows (e.g., knowledge transfer to a target firm from the UK acquiring firm and knowledge transfer from a target firm to the UK acquiring firm). Our research framework is built upon two different theoretical perspectives, namely resource orchestration and social capital theories. Our propositions were tested empirically across a sample of 131 UK cross-border M&A firms. Our results reveal that the affirmative roles of functional integration and shared goals in increasing knowledge transfer both to and from a target firm are confirmed and that knowledge transfer to the target firm is deemed decisive for M&A success. Based on the findings, we discuss theoretical and practical implications, followed by limitations and future study consideration.     

Decades of research on market entry modes: What do we really know about external antecedents of entry mode choice?

The choice of a mode of market entry is a critical component of the internationalization strategy, and numerous empirical studies have focused on this topic. Prior research, however, has provided mixed empirical evidence and thus, is difficult to interpret and review.This study examines the external antecedents of the choice of entry mode by meta-analyzing data from 72 independent primary studies. We focus on the decision between wholly owned subsidiaries and cooperative entry modes. For each variable, hypotheses about the theoretically expected direction of effect are posited and tested.We find a strong positive relationship between power distance as a cultural trait of the firm's home country and the propensity to establish a wholly owned subsidiary. On the other hand, we find a negative association between country risk, legal restrictions, market growth, and market size and the preference for wholly owned subsidiaries. We extensively discuss the implications of the meta-analytical results and investigate moderating effects of industry type and the time of the study. The relationship between income level of the host country and entry mode depends, to some degree, on the industry type. Service companies exhibit a negative relationship between income level and wholly owned subsidiaries, while manufacturing companies show a positive relationship.     

Who performs a stronger response to whom? Detecting individual competitive actions and reactions

This study analyzes the degree of competition through individual actions and reactions. Empirical support for this analysis has derived mainly from structural econometric models describing the nature of competition. This analysis extends the existing literature by empirically considering a direct measurement of competition through the analysis of the competitive actions and responses, and describing how firms compete within and between strategic groups. We estimate the firms’ conduct in the Spanish deposits market with 146 firms and 18,888 observations. This is a specially compelling context for the banking industry, in which a deregulation process gives rise to the adoption of aggressive strategies seeking to increase the market shares of deposit accounts; thus, producing a turbulent situation of increasing rivalry. Our results offer a deeper understanding of the firms’ competitive behavior, since we identify different patterns of actions and reactions depending upon the strategic group the firm belongs to.