Purpose: This paper aims to shed light on the process involved in acquiring and integrating complementary knowledge. The process model is based on a theoretical review of literature on complementarity in M&A’s, firm relatedness and knowledge integration. This literature acts as a foundation to construct the proposed model combined with a process oriented semi-structured interview based on a single case where we found complementary knowledge was integrated under conditions that would be challenging in this regard. The literature review provides the theoretical foundation and the process-oriented interview provides the process of implementing and understanding the theory. Therefore the following study should be considered a contribution to guide further research into this phenomena, which is currently underexplored especially from a qualitative point of view. Method: The theoretical study utilizes a synthesizing approach in connecting the literature findings and the empirical study adopts a qualitative lens by conducting three phases of study: pre-study,single case study and expert interviews. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews with M&A managers, and the sampling method is purposive. Findings: On a theoretical perspective we found that low external relatedness acts as a source of complementarity and low internal relatedness creates inefficiency in exploiting those complementary differences within knowledge. Allowing autonomy to the acquired firm is best when external relatedness is low as to maintain the differences that contribute to complementarity. On the contrary, if internal relatedness is low we find that high integration is recommended to ensure that internal relatedness is increased and efficiency issues are limited. When internal relatedness and external relatedness are both low, the required approach is a balance between autonomy and integration, described as symbiosis. From the empirical study, we conclude that the integration approach becomes an iterative process where the knowledge integration process plays an important role in learning to understand the acquired firm. In short, symbiosis requires close interaction and observation and an established process of integrating new knowledge to get familiar with the acquired firm.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-194868 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Lindström, Eddie, Saeng-Uthat, Nitsara |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för ekonomisk och industriell utveckling, Linköpings universitet, Filosofiska fakulteten |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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