Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether the awareness of social- and environmental factors could be beneficial within M&A transactions in such that companies tend to obtain a higher success in such transactions if they are aware of these factors. The study also examines whether the actual return by the event date strikes higher for the social- and environmental aware companies than the unaware companies, where the event date is when the M&A transaction was due. Method: The authors have chosen to use two different methods; the Event Study- and Panel Study methods. The event window consists of five days before- and five days after the due date of the M&A, which makes it a total of 11 days. The estimation window is based on the 30 days before the event window and is examined in order to obtain an expected return of which is not affected by the event. The sample is based on international, Swedish companies which has undergone a M&A with a non- Swedish company, and is connected to the UN’s initiative Global Compact. Theory: The authors have chosen to apply the Efficient Market Hypothesis and besides that, a developed model based on a current one, the Merger Management Model. The difference between the models is that the Merger Management Model is based on tangible factors whereas the developed model, Social and Environmental Merger Management Model, is based on intangible factors. The chapter starts with the Efficient Market Hypothesis and then continues with the Merger Management Model and an explanation of the social- and environmental factors. The chapter ends with an explanation of the factors’ impact on companies and culminates onto the developed model. Conclusion: The outcome shows that companies of which are aware of social- and environmental risks, have incentives to a higher success rate in M&A transactions than companies that are unaware of these risks. The results of the hypothesis test made in this study strengthens the conclusion since the outcome of the p-value almost reached 64 percent, which means that there most likely is a correlation between the companies’ awareness of the social- and environmental factors and their success in M&A transactions.

Den moderna vapenutvecklingen har skapat möjligheter, som rätt exploaterat, skapar dilemman för försvararen. Som motmedel har en utvecklad version av Biddles (2006) tre principer: reducera motståndarens vapenverkan, reducera motståndarens rörlighet och säkerställa egen rörlighet, prövats ur ett försvarsperspektiv gentemot specialoperationer. Resultatet visar att principerna har god passning på taktisk nivå. Studien fokuserar på inverkan av de immateriella faktorerna, i motsats till numerisk och teknologisk spets. Arbetet tydliggör att förmågan att använda, organisera och leda sina militära förband är en viktig framgångsfaktor. Arbetet visar att tillämpningen av immateriella faktorer kan förklara, variationen, varför försvaret i vissa fall segrar och i andra fall lider nederlag. Arbetet ger ny kunskap till forskningen om försvar mot specialoperationer likväl som den kan vara ett embryo till en intresseväckande debatt om defensiva markoperationer. / Modern weapon development has created opportunities, which, properly exploited, create dilemmas for the defender. As a countermeasure, a developed version of Biddle's (2006) three principles: avoid the opponent's weapon effect, delay the opponent's mobility, and, create their own mobility, has been tested from a defense perspective against attacking special operations. The result shows that the principles have good fit even at the tactical level. The study focuses on the influence of intangible factors, as opposed to numerical and technological cutting-edge. The work makes it clear that the ability to use, organize and lead their military units is an important factor, for success. The work shows that the application of intangible factors can explain, the variety, why in some cases defense triumphs and in other cases suffers defeat. The work provides new knowledge to research on defense against special operations as well as it can be an embryo of an interesting debate about defensive ground operations.