The effect of government intervention on business is a longstanding topic in political economy. One of the interesting cases is in recent China, where “socialism with Chinese characteristics” is associated with three decades of rapid economic growth. However, many doubt the sustainability of the “dual-track” approach applied in China, which tries to combine “market track” and “planned track” and achieve national goals without sacrificing firm-specific efficiency. This thesis investigates how the “market economy model dominated by political capital” works in Chinese OMAs. We look at Chinese overseas M&As in the period of 1994-2009. It is a good example because 80% of Chinese overseas M&A took place after China’s “Go Global” policy, and approximately half of the executors are state-owned enterprises. We test whether China’s Go Global policy affected shareholders’ wealth while pursuing government’s long-term goals of strategic resource-seeking and industry restructuring. The results show that Chinese OMAs achieved significantly positive performance in the short-run. However, performance decreased and became statistically insignificant over a longer three-year horizon. We find no evidence in the short-run responses of markets that the Go Global policy sacrificed shareholder wealth. However, we find OMAs by state-owned enterprises significantly underperformed private enterprises in the three years following completion of the deal. And there is evidence OMA performance varied across different sectors in the before and after policy periods. We also develop a generalized event study approach that pools multi-listings in event samples and “weights” individual listings by the new information they provide. We think this approach can be applied to other empirical studies in international/emerging markets settings.

abstract: Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have been playing a very significant role in the capital market. Many companies regard mergers and acquisitions as an important way for their business expansion and transformation. This paper begins with a review of literature on firm’s motivations of and outcomes in M&A, and followed by a critical examination of three case studies of actual M&A transactions based on the insights provided from the literature review. For each case study, a firm’s motivations and related managerial initiatives for M&A activities were examined, followed by an assessment of the firm’s post M&A performance results. This allows the study to discerns the insights of why and how a firm proceed in its M&A transactions from its strategic intent to its post M&A managerial actions. Collectively, the results show that the key drivers for a firm’s M&A successes rest on a firm’s abilities to manage the M&A activities consistent with its strategic intent (e.g., creating synergies or transformation through diversification) and followed by its post M&A integration efforts in achieving its strategic intent. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2018

This study investigates the effect of the value of financial flexibility on bidder’s merger and acquisition (M&A) performance, including the differences between domestic and cross-border M&As and the effect of the financial crisis. Using data gathered between 2005-2012 of 3,882 M&As with the bidder from developed Europe or the U.S., OLS regressions are used to predict the effect of value of financial flexibility on the bidder’s cumulative abnormal returns (CARs). Findings reveal partial evidence to support a positive effect of the value of financial flexibility and the cross-border effect on bidder’s M&A performance. Collectively, these findings increase understanding of the interdependence of financial flexibility and investments.

<p>Among the challenges that companies may face during the post M&A phase, cultural integration can be seen as one of the trickiest tasks. Cultural differences which are inevitable in any deal are always there. The link between how people from autonomous groups live together and the deal result is an interesting topic that needs to be investigated. Since we have an interest in developing the understanding of cultural differences during integration process in cross-border M&As, the research question “How do cultural differences arise in cross-border M&As during the integration process and do they impact the deal result?” is formulated.</p><p>This thesis presents a model that demonstrates elements of cultural differences from three levels, national, organizational and personal. In this model, these levels can be seen as interrelated to each other in which the inner layer is impacted by the outer one. As a result, personal culture, as the most inner layer, is doubly impacted by the other two, national and organizational levels. Given that the scope of our thesis is for cross-border M&As, after investigating these three levels of culture, we found that organizational and personal differences are real in any M&As no matter domestic or cross-border deals. Differences at national level, on the contrary, are the first element that should be mentioned as a root of cultural differences in companies from different nationalities.</p><p>From the understanding about emergence of cultural differences, we further study to see if they leave any effect on the deal result. In the empirical section, from the cultural gap analysis of each case, it was surprising to see that the relationship between cultural gap and deal result of two of four cases, are opposite to Rankine´s theory. At this point, we can see that M&As between companies similar in culture is not always successful or that failure between organizations having significantly different cultures is not always true, and then the empirical study on the acculturation dynamics made the further explanation that cultural differences are not the critical factor leading to success or failure, but rather how participants in integration perceive and respond to the cultural differences will impact the deal result.</p>

Among the challenges that companies may face during the post M&amp;A phase, cultural integration can be seen as one of the trickiest tasks. Cultural differences which are inevitable in any deal are always there. The link between how people from autonomous groups live together and the deal result is an interesting topic that needs to be investigated. Since we have an interest in developing the understanding of cultural differences during integration process in cross-border M&amp;As, the research question “How do cultural differences arise in cross-border M&amp;As during the integration process and do they impact the deal result?” is formulated. This thesis presents a model that demonstrates elements of cultural differences from three levels, national, organizational and personal. In this model, these levels can be seen as interrelated to each other in which the inner layer is impacted by the outer one. As a result, personal culture, as the most inner layer, is doubly impacted by the other two, national and organizational levels. Given that the scope of our thesis is for cross-border M&amp;As, after investigating these three levels of culture, we found that organizational and personal differences are real in any M&amp;As no matter domestic or cross-border deals. Differences at national level, on the contrary, are the first element that should be mentioned as a root of cultural differences in companies from different nationalities. From the understanding about emergence of cultural differences, we further study to see if they leave any effect on the deal result. In the empirical section, from the cultural gap analysis of each case, it was surprising to see that the relationship between cultural gap and deal result of two of four cases, are opposite to Rankine´s theory. At this point, we can see that M&amp;As between companies similar in culture is not always successful or that failure between organizations having significantly different cultures is not always true, and then the empirical study on the acculturation dynamics made the further explanation that cultural differences are not the critical factor leading to success or failure, but rather how participants in integration perceive and respond to the cultural differences will impact the deal result.

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&amp;As) are a popular strategy companies undertake in order to create value and synergies, and also to increase the competitiveness of the firm.  Findings from previous studies show that many M&amp;As fail to create value, however there is also existing evidence that they do, where the execution plays a major role. The success of an M&amp;A depends on both internal and external factors such as the competitive strengths of the firm, strategic fit, and growth of the market. It is argued that problems such as poor management within M&amp;A processes could affect the outcome of the M&amp;A in a negative way. Previous research shows that middle managers play a key role in strategic change processes such as M&amp;As. When companies go through strategic change, the entire company gets involved; however the middle manager is the one who must keep in contact with co-workers, customers, suppliers, and top management at the same time. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate middle managements’ perception of changed competitiveness after an M&amp;A has been completed. In order to fulfill the purpose, we used a qualitative approach where we conducted a case study and made interviews with middle managers at Toyota Material Handling’s German subsidiary that had recently gone through an M&amp;A process. Our findings show that when a company is buying another company it needs to see the positive assets from another perspective than only through possible gains in market shares and synergies. When the two companies merge they must take advantage of each other’s specific resources that have made each company successful. Furthermore what fosters increased competitiveness after a merger is good information and communication about goals and strategies. What in turn hinders increased competitiveness after a merger is low flexibility in terms of not being able to adapt to market changes fast enough, and to have an organization that does not make it possible for employees to bring up their opinions.

To compete globally, the financial service industry in Taiwan continuously expands markets and integrates sources and is one of the industries popular in mergers and acquisitions lately. Counting on people to deliver service is one of the traits in the field, therefore, it¡¦s worthy of attentions and discovery about the relations of the acculturation/the employees¡¦ working attitude/the perceived organizational performance between the acquiring and the acquired firms when combined. The study targets on the two cases of M&As in the financial service industry happened in the past two years in Taiwan and it is conducted by the questionnaire survey. Throughout interviewing total 364 of the staffs and agents in Kaohsiung of two pairs of the acquiring and the acquired companies which were combined, the datum of the research is made by reliability analysis, descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, independent sample t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis to analyze the dimensions of the organizational culture and the employees¡¦ working attitudes and the perceived organizational performance of the acquiring and the acquired firms. The major findings are as follows: 1. The Organizational culture and the employees¡¦ working attitude both are statistically significant correlated to the perceived organizational performance, especially the latter affects the perceived organizational performance more than the former does. 2. Among the sub-dimensions, the organizational commitment in the employees¡¦ working attitude explains most the variation of the perceived organizational performance and then the recognition. Also, the service quality in the organizational culture explains most the one. It means that the organizational commitment and the recognition of employees¡¦ as well as the service quality are with significant influences on the perceived organizational performance. 3. The Organizational culture is statistically significant correlated to the employees¡¦ working attitude, and among its sub-dimensions the service quality explains most the variation of the employees¡¦ working attitude and then the teamwork. In other words, the service quality affects the working attitude of employees¡¦ significantly. 4. The working attitude of the employees¡¦ of the acquiring firm A is significantly different from the one of the acquired firm B, however, the odds in the identity degrees of the organizational culture and the perceived organizational performance between A and B are no significant. 5. The variations in the identity degrees either of the organizational culture, the working attitude of employees¡¦, or the perceived organizational performance between the acquiring firm C and the acquired one D are significant. The research gives the evidence that the working attitude of employees¡¦ affects the perceived organizational performance most. It represents that the acquiring firms should pay more attentions to the soft integration such as human resources and culture when combined to know better the expectation and to reduce the uncertainty of employees¡¦ of both the acquiring and the acquired, to enhance the strength and value identified by both sides in order to reinforce the confidence as well as the identity of the employees¡¦ if it wants the merger to reach the expected accomplishment.

Background: Mergers and acquisitions (hereinafter referred to as M&amp;As) are increasing in their importance and they have become a commonly applied strategic option for organizations. A major reason for an acquisition is often the objective of gaining new knowledge from the acquired company and then transferring that knowledge among other parts within the acquiring organization. Furthermore, the explicit and tacit nature of knowledge is essential for the transfer of knowledge during M&amp;As. Also, the process of knowledge transfer is dynamic and complex and thus, numerous challenges can arise along the way. As proved by the literature individuals are the key factors, which constrain the transfer of knowledge in M&amp;As. Aim: Despite the extensive existing literature in the area of knowledge transfer, it provides a rather static view and thus, less is known about the dynamic process nature of knowledge transfer in M&amp;As. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative research is to gain deeper understanding of how the process of knowledge transfer evolves over time and how employees constrain it within the acquiring organization during the post-acquisition phase in a merger and acquisition (hereinafter referred to as M&amp;A). In addition, the redefined models in this thesis provide a foundation for future research. Methodology: This thesis is based on a qualitative single-case study method, which builds upon empirical data of an anonymous Swedish international organization (hereinafter referred to as Globex) operating in the manufacturing sector. Theoretical constructs are applied in order to form a generalization. First-hand information is primarily used for this thesis, which was collected in the form of in-depth interviews with the employees of Globex. In order to present the analysed data in a more understandable and visible manner, tables and graphs were applied. Furthermore, our research method is based on the iterative grounded theory, which deals with organizational process research. Thus, we were able to analyse the dynamics in the knowledge transfer process despite its high level of complexity. Due to this complicated essence of the knowledge transfer process, we were unable to explore it entirely and could not acquire all necessary information. However, we still contribute with novelty to the academic society, as previous research explores the static view of knowledge transfer and our research relies on its dynamics. Results: The process of knowledge transfer and how it evolves is illustrated with the necessary phases for its accomplishment. The first model, which demonstrates the dynamic nature of the knowledge transfer process during M&amp;As, is presented. In order to positively influence the transfer of knowledge, enablers should be applied. The second model highlights the importance of planning the process of knowledge transfer within the post-acquisition phase during M&amp;As. Lastly, constraints from the employees’ side can influence the transfer of knowledge. The importance to consider enablers and constraints during the knowledge transfer is also emphasised. Theoretical implications: We urge that more research should accentuate on the process nature of the knowledge transfer and should further explore its dynamics and complexity especially in the context of organizational changes, such as M&amp;As. Managerial implications: Managers should understand the evolving nature of the knowledge transfer process and strengthen their focus on the planning phase of knowledge transfer in order to minimize the issues during the post-acquisition phase.

The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;As) on trust and organizational innovation on micro and macro levels. Since earlier studies of M&amp;As have focused mostly on financial aspects, this study aims to contribute to the understanding of non-financial and organizational aspects of M&amp;As including trust and organizational innovation, especially through microfoundational explanation. According to this, trust is studied by focusing on two specific aspects: interpersonal trust (on individual level) and institutional trust (on the firm level). The organizational innovation is defined as a single concept but is studied both on individual and firm level. The research is conducted by focusing on eight Northern European companies that have gone through M&amp;As and the related data is collected by using qualitative surveys, which included both free-text fields and the opinion scales. The empirics of this study show that M&amp;As have affected trust and organizational innovation through six main factors (CIRCUS) which include communication, employees’ influence, resources, workplace cohesion, capabilities utilization,and streamlining the working methods. Based on this, the findings of the study indicate thatthere is a clear connection between trust and organizational innovation and that the M&amp;As arehaving negative effects on both.

The emergence of cultural industry is strongly supported by the Chinese government. Policy support andtechnology-driven considerations have stimulatedrapid mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in China’s cultural industry. The burgeoning scale of industrial M&As, however, has not necessarily improved the quality. In the case of impending market saturation, advancing M&Asin violation of market rules may lead to bubble accumulation in the capital market. In addition, dominated by intangible assets, the cultural industry features relatively unstable products and immature industries, which can lead to a deviation in the valuation of M&A assets from the real value. Once the M&A targetexperiences operational issues, it will suffer greater losses than those brought by M&Asin traditional industries. Therefore, the cultural industry is exposed toa high valuation risk. In addition, its structure differs greatly from other industries because it has a high degree of product line differentiation, which makesit difficult for value chain coupling after companies in the cultural industry merge with other industries. There is also much uncertainty about cross-industry M&A stimulating performance. These uncertainties may hinder the growth of China’s cultural industry. Therefore, mystudy focuses on the cultural industry. This study examines the M&A performance of listed companies in China’s cultural industry through empirical analysis and provides suggestions for its development.Thisstudy first discusses the main types, characteristics,and reasons for surge in M&Asin China’s cultural industry, and then empiricallyanalyzes the M&A performance of listed companies in the cultural industry from the perspectives of stock performance and financial returns. On the one hand, based on the event studymethod, this empirical study analyzes the impacts of M&Asin the cultural industry on the short-term and long-term abnormal stock return of theactiveacquirerthrough the CAPM modelandthe Fama–French 3-factormodel; on the other hand, an empirical analysis is made on the impacts of M&Asin cultural industry on the company’s future financial return using the propensity score matchingand difference-in-difference (DID)methods.This study finds that the short-term abnormal return after the M&Asin cultural industry is iiisignificant, but not the long-term cumulative abnormal stock returns. Therefore, it is concluded that the impact of M&Asof listed companies in cultural industry on short-term abnormal stock returns is only a result of market overreaction, and the market will be rational in the long run. This study also examines whether the M&A is cross-industry or whether the acquirer is a cultural enterprise has anysignificant impact on the long-term cumulative abnormal stock returns.Concurrently, the study examines the factors leading to abnormal returns from M&As, and finds from the analysis on factors leading to short-term abnormal returns that the size of market value, the extent of valuation,and whether the company is a state-owned company have a significant impact on the short-term abnormal market returns from M&As.On the other hand, this study finds that the financial returns of sample companies have not improved after M&Asin cultural industry, but have declined instead. This is likely because the two companies cannot coordinate andmerge well after M&A, which instead increases frictions and results in a decline in financial returns.Based on the features of M&Asin China’s cultural industry and the empirical results of the decline in financial returns of listed companies after M&Asin cultural industry, this study suggests plausibleimprovementsin M&A performance of listed companies in China’s cultural industryat the level of government, intermediary agent, industry guidance and enterprise.This study hasfour chapters: Chapter 1 is the introduction, which introduces the research background, methods, significance,and related literature review. Chapter 2 introduces the current situation of M&Asin China’s cultural industryand presents an analysis of the main types and characteristics of and reasons behind the new wave of M&Asin China’s cultural industry. Chapter 3 presents the empirical analysis. Based on various empirical research methods, this study analyzes the impacts of M&Asin cultural industry on the short-term and long-term abnormal stock returns and financial returns. Chapter 4 concludesand makes suggestions for policy makers. / Business Administration/Finance