Items

• Feminist CMS Writing as Difficult Joy: Via Bitches and Birds

  This chapter explores how writing ‘with animals’ can contribute to the development of feminist and queer approaches in Critical Management Studies (CMS). The chapter is theoretically framed with previous work in organisational studies and CMS on gendered writing and introduces the queer practice of ‘dog-writing’ used by feminists in human-animal studies like Donna Haraway and Susan McHugh. Cixous’ essay on ‘On birds, women and writing’ is used to introduce the idea of writing as a ‘difficult joy’. The author then uses writing from her personal journals to ‘write with animals’, especially birds, to show how thought can start. Writing with animals means to be-in-the-world with animals and recognise the ways they are foundational to not only organisational life, but thought itself. By drawing on developments by queer and feminist writers in human-animal studies CMS writers can engage with contemporary creative resistance practices and offer affirmative alternatives.

• The Neoliberal Crisis: Alternative Organizing and Spaces of/for Feminist Solidarity

  Radical feminist theory and practice has actively questioned power relationships between men, women and people of color as a cornerstone of capitalist development since the 1970s while demonstrating the differential impact of such inequality generating structures and relationships on lives and bodies. Their argument about the process of social reproduction and, especially, the reproduction of labor-power both achieved through the dispossession of the female and (colonial) body and the expropriation of their work (Federici, 2004) is acutely relevant to the analysis of the consequences of the unfolding Global Financial Crisis. Yet, the crisis can be a motivating force for changing the established power relations. Using three different case studies of female initiatives aiming to counteract the imposition of neoliberal attack on their livelihoods in crisis-stricken Greece, the chapter examines how the existing experience of feminist thinking and activism from within and outside of academia, can contribute to the cultivation of affective embodied relations, and building upon the idea of “feminist solidarity” (Mohanty, 2003), in addressing the challenges of the crisis and post-crisis policies.
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  Alliances to Acquisitions: A Road Map to Advance the Field of Strategic Management

  Although primarily treated as two distinct research streams, strategic alliances and mergers and acquisitions together occupy much of the strategic management discourse. Alliances, in many cases, end in acquisitions as firms use alliances as intermediate strategic options to eventually acquire a partner. As the discipline of strategy matures and the frequency and the volume of inter-firm cooperation continue to rise, it is imperative to integrate these two research streams for a holistic understanding of the theory of the firm. The purpose of this conceptual piece is threefold. First, we review the extant studies that combine these two governance modes: alliance and acquisitions. Second, drawing on the dominant strategic management theories, we highlight how prior inter-firm alliances inform future acquisitions in terms of (a) pre-combination decisions, (b) post-deal integration processes, (c) alternatives and strategies, and (d) performance outcomes. Finally, in view of the emerging trends and evocative gaps, we offer a conceptual road map to encourage future theoretical development and empirical research.
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  Retention Strategies in M&A Processes – An Exploratory Case Study on Turnover During Mergers and Acquisitions in the German Software Industry

  Firms pursue merger and acquisitions in order to gain valuable resources from acquired companies, including employee-held know-how and culture. This study aims to identify reasons employees choose to stay or leave in reaction to acquisitions. Seventeen employees involved in two major acquisitions in the software industry were interviewed for this qualitative study that goes beyond classical turnover variables to indicate that turnover or retention decisions depend on highly critical acquisition-specific variables such as leadership behavior, contact with new colleagues, or appreciation from the acquirer. We develop an acquisition-specific turnover model as a basis for further research on acquisition-specific turnover and to provide guidelines for practitioners dealing with retention and turnover during acquisitions.
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  Advancing Research on the Influences of Social Media on Human Resources in Mergers and Acquisitions

  The use of social media information for personnel decisions in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) could have greater effects on employees in targeted firms of M&As. Negative information from social media can facilitate employee departures especially during reorganization efforts. Managers should be aware that personnel decisions using information gained from social media could have legal ramifications. As such, appropriate policies concerning social media should be in place to guide organizational decision making. Although social media has been a part of society and business, research on its influences on human resources, employment decisions, and organizational behaviors has been limited. As such, this paper reviewed the current literature on social media and suggested ways to advance studies in the field.
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  Acquisitions as Corporate Entrepreneurship

  Increasing chances of firm survival requires enduring entrepreneurship or the ability to balance competing demands for exploration and exploitation. We developed how acquisitions can provide needed disruption to change a firm’s dominant orientation toward exploration or exploitation or enable a continued focus on a firm’s dominant orientation. The result is a new typology for acquisition integration associated with different pre- and post-acquisition characteristics. For example, a firm with an exploitation orientation faces different integration challenges in acquiring targets with an exploration or exploitation orientation. We also distinguished between human and task integration to enable more nuanced integration decisions that help to reconcile conflicting findings on acquisition integration decisions. Implications for management research and practice were discussed.
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  Bearers of (Good) News: The Impact of Business News Reports on Acquirer Short-Term Performance

  In this study we investigated the effects of news reports on acquirer short-term performance. Our focus was on the extent to which key deal characteristics – the type of deal, during a merger wave or not or the presence of a significant premium – are made explicit. Moreover, we looked for the effect of the assessment of the deal characteristics by different key informants: board members, top management team members, and analysts. Configurations derived using the set-theoretic approach suggest that media-transmitted signals form complex interrelations among content and informant. We found that investors react positively to deals that are surrounded by unequivocal signals of synergy potential: they contain explicitly stated deal characteristics as well as deal endorsements from the boards and/or top management of acquirer and target companies. Analysts’ assessments of the deals seem to bear little influence on investor reaction. Meanwhile, investors react negatively to deals with low or absent media coverage as well as deals surrounded by signals of ambiguous synergy potential.
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  Cross-Border M&As in Related and Technology-Intensive Industries: Evidence on the Dynamics of Spatial Distance, Industry Context, and Completion Likelihood of International Takeovers

  Many announced cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are never brought to completion despite potential negative consequences to acquirers and targets. This paper presented evidence on the dynamic effects of spatial distance and two industry-level characteristics, namely industry relatedness between the two firms and technological intensity, on the completion likelihood of cross-border M&A deals. Based on a sample of 8,489 M&A transactions we found that the completion likelihood of cross-border M&As increases with spatial distance. The effect is more pronounced for deals across technology-based industries, evidence for related deals is inconclusive.
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  Examination of Japanese Firms’ Announcement of M&A Budgets: From the Perspective of Signaling Theory and Impression Management Theory

  In the rapidly changing and globalizing environment, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have become increasingly important. In this study, we paid specific attention to the voluntary announcements of M&A budgets by Japanese firms. We discussed the antecedents and consequences of such announcements by incorporating the context of Japan, which has experienced an enduring economic downturn since 1990 and is in the process of adopting a Western style of governance. Drawing on signaling theory and impression management theory, this exploratory study intended to contribute to the literature by incorporating the influence of the social context and by arguing for the possibility that announcements of M&A budgets may be used not only for strategic purposes but also for impression management and to reduce information asymmetry.
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  Does Company Performance Improve After M&A? A Literature Review

  Empirical evidence for the positive correlation between company size and competitiveness is widely supported in the literature and research. Of the many ways in which companies can increase in size, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are the most common. M&As are now a strategic option for corporations to exploit emerging opportunities in order to expand. This paper reviewed the literature on how M&As impact company’s performance, comparing pre-merger and post-merger situations. We found that while scholars have explored this topic extensively, no minimum level of consensus has been reached, not only in conclusions but neither in methodologies nor in identifying independent and dependent variables. The evidence from the M&A literature is extremely inconsistent. Based on these mixed findings, we identified directions for future research, and suggested how to develop the scholarship to reach a consensus on the answer to the research question: does company performance improve after M&As?
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  Reflecting on the Use of Ethnographic Methods in the Study of Mergers

  In this paper, we responded to recent calls for the use of a greater variety of qualitative methods in the study of inter-organizational encounters, including mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The paper provided a reflection on the authors’ experiences in carrying out two studies of merger processes in the UK and Finland, one ethnographic and one combing also auto-­ethnographic methods. Contrasts between the former case of an “outsider” entering into an ethnographic study and the latter case of an auto-ethnographer with a dual role as a researcher and integration team member were highlighted. The paper offered three contributions to extant research. First, the paper extended the methodological debate in the study of M&As to the level of individual methods. Second, the paper identified the finding types that emerge when using ethnographic methods in the study of mergers. Third, the paper discussed the unique challenges posed when conducting ethnographic work investigating organizational combinations in times of mergers as opposed to ethnography in traditional, single organizational settings.
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  Varieties of Value in Mergers and Acquisitions: Time for a New Research Agenda

  Value is one of the most central concepts in mergers and acquisitions (M&As); however, a broad and systematic examination of value’s various connotations and respective uses is yet to be developed. The chapter canvasses wider theory on value and illustrates how its varieties across economics and ethics share common roots through which they supplement each other. It reviews how these forms of value have been used in research on M&As. Studies in strategic management have predominantly used ‘value’ to address shareholder value or have left it undefined by assuming a common understanding of value creation. Research in organisational behaviour and human resources has addressed ‘values’, often through culture, but the focus is largely with the utility of values to value. The authors outline an agenda for future research on value(s) in M&As, whereby it is theorised in integrative, relational, dynamic and pluralistic terms. Studies need to: (i) clearly articulate value(s): for whom? how? and to what effect?; (ii) examine value relations in both social and economic terms, and address the value(s) that are good for a range of internal and external stakeholders; (iii) recognise that at the heart of both value and values are processes and practices of evaluation whereby value(s) are regenerated through multiple contextual positions and contingent relationships, and (iv) explicate the contestation that shapes which values ought to be valued and articulate the ethics inherent in the varieties and values of value and their consequences for a range of M&A constituents.
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  Merging Cities

  Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving cities and municipalities have received little research attention. This is unfortunate because cities are fundamentally important in the global economy and their influence is likely to grow further. This chapter takes stock of extant research and offers an agenda for studying city M&A. The authors outline the dominant strategic perspective, and complement it with human and institutional perspectives that help explore these complex phenomena. Finally, the authors consider what the M&A literature at large can learn from studying cities.
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  Making M&A Less Risky: The Influence of Due Diligence Processes on Strategic Investment Decision Making

  This chapter explores the influence of due diligence processes on strategic investment decision-making (SIDM) processes. Further, it provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Furthermore, the chapter adopts a strategic perspective on M&A, particular attention has been paid to the influence of due diligence and other related strategic control mechanisms on SIDM processes.
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  Family Businesses: Building a Merger and Acquisition Research Agenda

  Family businesses dominate the economic landscape and contribute to the market for corporate control across the globe, either as acquiring companies or as target. However, there is still limited research investigating acquisitions by or of family firms. The authors begin to remedy this gap by providing a narrative review of extant research. Findings indicate that acquisitions in family firms are primarily regarded as a tool to solve succession problems, and not as a strategic tool to achieve growth. A greater dialog between acquisition and family business scholars can be an important means to improve theory and practice of acquisitions involving family businesses across the globe.
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  An Australian Case Study of Stakeholder Relationships in a merger and acquisition process

  The chapter argues the need for a dynamic and dialectic understanding of how M&A processes relate to stakeholders. It offers deeper insight into how stakeholder theory can be used to enrich understanding of the broader economic, social and political implications of M&A, which enables researchers and practitioners to understand M&A outcomes for all stakeholders. The findings expand on the benefits of stakeholder analysis in relation to how stakeholders both affect and are affected by M&A processes, challenging the view that stakeholder relationships are unidirectional, static, or linear but evolve in complex patterns and along interconnected dimensions between and among stakeholder groups. This approach facilitates historical analysis, forward assessment, future planning and proactive responding, both for academics in devising theories and explanations, and for practitioners in considering, designing and implementing M&A strategies.
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  Workplace Diversity and Gender in Merger and Acquisition Research

  The authors review literature that focuses on women and minorities in the context of mergers and acquisitions (henceforth referred to as mergers for the sake of simplicity) aiming to explore how and to what extent diversity and gender issues are studied in merger research. The authors sort the reviewed research into three themes: the impact of gender on merger outcome, the impact of merger on women and minorities, and the impact of merger on diversity management and equality work. The authors suggest that it is important to conduct further studies on the topic but also assert that merger managers can learn from diversity management literature and practices how to manage employees with diverse backgrounds during the post-merger integration.
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  M&A Advisors: Padding Their Pockets or Source of Expertise?

  Advisors play a key role in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) process, but research to date has rarely focused on how their influence impacts these transactions. The present chapter takes stock of the present literature on M&A advisors from finance, economics, and management in order to integrate the currently diverging research traditions into a coherent framework. The current research has focused on proximal acquisition outcomes, like acquisition premiums or expected performance in the form of cumulative abnormal returns, but there is limited theoretical understanding of the advisors impact on the post-acquisition period. Moreover, while the role of advisor reputation has been highlighted on both the management and finance literatures as an important aspect of the role advisors play in the M&A process, there seems to be much to be addressed. Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, the nature of the relationship between the advisor and the acquirer or target presents challenges to researchers where the advisor acts both as a provider of expertise in the M&A process, but may be simply acting on their own best interest. The new framework that the authors present here provides management scholars with a roadmap into a cohesive research agenda that can inform our theoretical understanding of the role of M&A advisors.
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  Board Interlocks and M&As

  Extending the proposition that boards of directors influence firms’ mergers and acquisitions (M&As), studies have investigated how board interlocks – network ties formed by directors — may shape M&A processes and outcomes. While board interlocks and M&As are two streams of research, each underpinned by voluminous studies, their cross-fertilization has been relatively limited. In this chapter, the authors take stock of prior research investigating the relationship between board interlocks and M&As. Specifically, emphasizing the network features of board interlocks, the authors highlight a connection aspect and a structure aspect of board interlocks in appreciating their effects during pre-acquisition and post-acquisition phases. Based on this framework, the authors then lay out a research agenda that can further bridge board interlocks with M&As. Overall, this chapter endeavors to integrate and expand our knowledge on the acquisition implications of board interlocks.
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  A Research Agenda to Increase Merger and Acquisition Success

  Scholars have been conducting serious research on the human, organizational, and cultural aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for 30 years. Yet, over this period, there have only been modest improvements in the M&A success rate. In this chapter, the author examines corporate combinations, describes how human factors contribute to their failure or success, and identifies key research questions whose answers can help to improve the M&A success rate in both financial and human terms. The author proposes research questions for the key phases of a deal, including buying a company and putting companies together. And, reflecting an emerging trend among some frequent acquirers to build an internal competence in M&A execution, the author also proposes research questions for how to accelerate the process of learning from past combinations to better manage future ones.

• Feminism in the Third Space – Critical Discourse Analysis of Mipsterz Women and Grassroots Activism

  The identities of Muslim women tend to be essentialized into binaries of what she is and what she ought to be (Golnaraghi & Dye, 2016). For far too long Muslim women’s voices in North America have been marginalized by hegemonic Orientalist (Said, 1978) and traditionalist (Clarke, 2003) Islamic discourses. When it comes to issues of agency, empowerment, and self-expression, it is either imposed by Western ideals or regulated by traditionalist politics of Islam (Zine, 2006). As such, Muslim women activists must engage and negotiate within the dual and narrow oppressions of Orientalist and traditionalist Islamic representations of her (Khan, 1998; Zine, 2006). Given the scarcity of space provided in print media (Golnaraghi & Dye, 2016; Golnaraghi & Mills, 2013) for Muslim women to construct, appropriate, and remake their own identities, some have turned to social media to challenge these dichotomies through activism and resistance. Such a space is necessary in order to recover, resurface, and reauthorize the hybrid voices, experiences, and identities of the Muslim woman on their own terms in order to challenge hegemonic discourse. Highlighting the nuances of feminist activism, particularly that of Muslim postcolonial feminists that can make a difference to Critical Management Studies (CMS) as a community concerned with social justice and challenging marginalization and oppression. The “Somewhere in America #Mipsterz” (Muslim hipsters) video launched in 2013, the site for our critical discourse analysis, is one case where this resistance can be seen, showcasing fashionable veiled Muslim women artistically expressing themselves to the beats of Jay Z.

• Feminist Critical Management Studies in the Lecture Hall: A Space for Activism and Hope?

• Beyond Subjectless Abstractions: A Feminist Praxis Contribution

  This chapter addresses growing concerns that, despite being a radically intentioned community, Critical Management Studies (CMS) lacks an orientation to achieve pragmatic change. In response I argue that the failure to address the continuing marginalisation of the subaltern is key to CMS being negatively represented as an elitist self-preoccupied endeavour. This state of affairs is linked to a legacy of the ‘postmodern’ turn, which emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, as evidenced by the nature of contemporary debates continuing to reflect the stylistic fetishes of that time. I contend that the ghost of postmodernism is evident in the continuing predilection to produce signification discourses marked by symbolic absences, which politically confine such texts to the level of epistemology. The lack of integration of ontological concerns means that corporeal aspects of daily life are neglected, resulting in an abstracted ‘subjectless’ mode of representation. To address these limitations, a feminist activist version of post-structuralism (PSF) of the time is revisited, which through its distinctive attention to community concerns, enabled the linking of epistemological and ontological representations; thereby facilitating the creation of a framework for pragmatic change. As the chapter demonstrates, by drawing attention to the integral relationship between the modes of representation, power relations and subsequent social effects, poststructuralist feminists were able to achieve praxis outcomes. Accordingly, I argue this treasure house of ideas needs to be reclaimed and provides illustrations of the design principles proffered to support my contentions.

• Redeeming Difference in CMS through Anti-Racist Feminisms

  I propose in this chapter that the dominant practice of critical management studies (CMS) is characterised by white masculinity, where theorising tends to assume a white universal norm while commodifying difference. This approach treats diversity as something CMS has, rather than is. In order to disrupt the prevailing practice, I explore how anti-racist feminisms (a term I use here to refer to the diverse movements of postcolonial feminism and feminisms of colour) may shape CMS towards a more reflexive and meaningful engagement with difference. In reflecting on my own performance of white masculinity as an aspiring critical management scholar, I suggest that an anti-racist feminist approach bears the potential to challenge relations of domination within CMS and reinvigorate our pursuits for emancipation. It is my hope that the anti-racist feminist perspective advanced in this chapter may offer an opportunity for critical management scholars to ‘do’ critique differently through a radical inclusion of previously marginalised perspectives.

• Manifesto for Feminist Critical Race Killjoys in CMS

  The aim of my chapter is to draw on conceptualisations of sexism, racism, epistemology of white ignorance and critical race theorists’ critiques of white feminism to examine critical management studies (CMS) practices. The purpose of the chapter is to acknowledge the contribution of CMS feminists and look to how we can go beyond current practices to include antiracism in our feminisms. In particular, I show how sexism, racism and white ignorance are collectively produced in CMS and operate through mundane, and avoidable, organisational and pedagogical processes. I respond to the editors’ call for chapters by offering a practical politics through the idea of a killjoy manifesto, taking inspiration from the writings of Sara Ahmed. An important part of is that is for white feminism in CMS to attend to critiques from racially minoritised academics, activists and workers. Whilst challenging, I hope the chapter provides practical and theoretical resources and encouragement.