Company transactions are increasing in number and value and is a method used for external growth. The increase in mergers and acquisitions can mainly be seen during the last decades and is now a common strategy on both a national and international level. However, most transactions experience problems with fulfilling the perceived value and synergies. Furthermore, digitalisation has created a higher dependency of companies on various IT systems, and rapid technological advancement has made the processes and theories regarding IT integration outdated. Thus, there is limited research on the relationship between IT systems and company integration and integration performance. The study aims to explore IT systems integration in the context of company transactions as well as attempts to identify key factors that influence integration performance. To explore the field, an embedded multiple-case study was conducted with a company performing international company transactions. The empirical study can be divided into three parts. First, initial interviews to probe the subject and gather information to create a holistic view of the problem. Second, gathering qualitative and quantitative data on the cases and conducting in-depth interviews. Third, the main study and exploration of the cases and collected data. Additionally, a literature review was conducted to create the theoretical foundation for the analysis and to complement the primary data. The thesis found that an objective method to measure performance is needed since the general view of the integration is not necessarily representative of the actual performance. The factors that influence performance were identified as of both strategic and organisational nature, where strategy and processes are important early on to create a common view of the project. People change management and active involvement from both parties are essential during the integration. The thesis contributes to the research field by exploration of the gap between theories regarding mergers and IT integration as well as by suggesting a nuanced view of the current approach to strategic alignment. Furthermore, the study builds on the general theory of measurement of integration performance by suggesting a metric to measure the performance of IT integration projects.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5904.pdf: 2269216 bytes, checksum: 57eb6804c177749bbc6d216c338869a1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-04-29 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / Empirical works have shown that risks in a supply chain can affect the efficiency of the flows of products, services and information in it, causing misalignment between activities, inefficiencies in operations and low firm performance. In this sense, we note that the inter organizational information sharing has been pointed out in several studies (e.g., LEE et al, 2012; GIUNIPERO and ELTANTAWY , 2004; BLACKHURST et al, 2011) as an element capable of mitigating several risks involved in the productive activities of a supply chain. This thesis fits into this perspective, more specifically, seeks to analyze the relationship between sharing information with suppliers and customers and the mitigation of risks in supply chains (i.e. disruptions, poor delivery performance, failure orders, poor demand forescast, and others). Moreover, it is expected to understand if this fact (risk mitigation) contribute to improving business performance. Thus, we performed an empirical study consists of three stages, namely: i) literature review, ii) conducting a test of hypotheses with data processing by means of the technique of Structural Equation Modeling, and iii) interviews for in-depth understanding of the hypotheses were confirmed. Overall, the results indicate that, for the studied sector, a share of effective and efficient information between the company and its key suppliers focus promotes the mitigation of supply disruptions and inefficiencies in distribution operations or fulfilling delivery times along the chain, even without an appropriate sharing of information on demand (by the closest ties of the final consumer) or occurring inconsistencies with regard to its prediction. Moreover, with respect to performance improvement from the risk mitigation, the results are conclusive and allow to state that the expected effect was confirmed, i.e., so smaller are the risks involving the activities of supply, production and distribution of a focal with its suppliers and customers, best will their performance results (operational , market and financial). As contribution of the study, besides to filling the gaps identified in the literature highlights the production of knowledge to data from the Brazilian situation, since this research focuses on a recent topic (risks mitigation in supply chains) in an industry specific, of agri-companies. / Estudos mostram que se os riscos de uma cadeia de suprimentos não forem mitigados, estes podem afetar a eficiência dos fluxos de produtos, serviços e informações da mesma, provocando o desalinhamento entre as atividades, ineficiência nas operações e o baixo desempenho das empresas. Sob esta perspectiva, o compartilhamento inter organizacional de informações tem sido apontado em diversos estudos (por exemplo, GIUNIPERO e ELTANTAWY, 2004; BLACKHURST et al., 2011; LEE et al., 2012) como um elemento capaz de mitigar boa parte dos riscos que envolvem as atividades produtivas de uma cadeia de suprimentos. Há, entretanto, uma lacuna na literatura no que diz respeito aos efeitos do compartilhamento de informações sobre a mitigação de riscos envolvendo o fornecimento e a demanda. Sendo assim, a presente tese busca analisar a relação existente entre o compartilhamento de informações e a mitigação de riscos envolvendo o fornecimento (ou seja, interrupções, ineficiências nas operações de distribuição ou no cumprimento de prazos de entrega) e demanda (a saber, colocações repentinas de pedidos, decorrentes de alterações repentinas e frequentes na demanda ou ocasionadas por erros nas projeções de demanda dos principais clientes frente à sua demanda real). Além disso, buscou-se entender se a redução de riscos envolvendo o fornecimento e a demanda pode contribuir para a melhoria de desempenho empresarial. Para tanto, realizou-se um estudo empírico composto de três etapas, a saber: i) revisão de literatura; ii) realização de um teste de hipóteses com tratamento dos dados por meio da técnica de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais, e; iii) entrevistas para entendimento em profundidade das hipóteses que foram confirmadas. De maneira geral, os resultados permitem concluir que, para o setor pesquisado, um compartilhamento de informações eficaz e eficiente entre a empresa foco e seus principais fornecedores promove a mitigação de interrupções no fornecimento, bem como a redução de ineficiências nas operações de distribuição ou no cumprimento de prazos de entrega ao longo da cadeia. Sob esta perspectiva nota-se que tal mitigação ocorre mesmo sem haver um compartilhamento adequado de informações sobre a demanda (por parte dos elos mais próximos do consumidor final) ou ocorrendo inconsistências no que diz respeito à sua previsão. Com relação à melhoria de desempenho a partir da mitigação de riscos, os resultados obtidos são contundentes e permitem afirmar, sem ressalvas, que o efeito esperado foi confirmado, ou seja, quanto menores forem os riscos envolvendo as atividades de suprimentos, produção e distribuição de uma empresa focal com seus fornecedores e clientes, melhores serão os seus resultados de desempenho (operacional, de mercado e financeiro). Como contribuição do estudo, além do preenchimento das lacunas identificadas na literatura destaca-se a produção de conhecimento com dados da situação brasileira, uma vez que esta pesquisa foca um tema recente e pouco pesquisado (gestão de riscos em cadeias de suprimentos) em um setor específico, o de empresas agroindustriais.