Role of the top management team in post-acquisition success: A resource-based view.

This research focuses on the TMT, their retention, the particular characteristics of the TMT (their networks, knowledge, dynamic capability), these characteristics moderated by both acquisition type and competitive environment, and their value to the acquiring firm to help explain the variation in post-acquisition success of the acquired firm. Finally, this research focuses on smaller acquisitions, which are the majority as opposed to most previous research that focused on larger acquisitions only. This research also examines primary data from acquisition managers as opposed to the secondary (archival) data that has dominated most previous work on acquisitions.Our findings suggest that Pre-Acquisition performance of the target firm correlates with top management team (TMT) retention. Higher TMT retention was found to positively correlate with Post-Acquisition performance and that Pre-Acquisition performance does not correlate with post-acquisition performance. TMT knowledge, TMT network and TMT dynamic capability were found to be positively significant to post-acquisition performance. We controlled for the size of the acquirer versus the acquired, how the firm was purchased and the type of ownership of the acquired firm.The acquisition strategy is likely the most popular corporate strategy for growth. Research continues to explore this strategy and suggest that acquisitions occur for numerous reasons: rapid renewal in a global marketplace, creating synergies, ensuring financial and tax advantages, establishing market power, and the market for corporate control. However, a large body of research suggests that top management team (TMT) failure and improvement in efficiency is the key role for acquisitions, as argued in the market for corporate control literature. An important research question that researchers continue to explore is the disposition of the TMT subsequent to acquisition and its impact on acquisition performance

Odlučivanje najvišeg rukovodstva malih i srednjih poduzeća u globalnim akvizicijama

The new global marketplace has caused changes in some organizations’/industries’ forms and execution of strategy and reliance on international personnel. Entry and success through the accumulation of knowledge in the global marketplace have become the impetus for sustainable competitive/developmental advantage for many corporations. Many organizations choose a strategy focusing on international acquisitions in foreign markets to compete effectively in the current ever-changing dynamic competitive landscape. After acquisition, the monitoring of the operations of the new international subsidiary by US firms typically is an ethnocentric example of applying home-country standards and controls. We suggest that the top management team (TMT) of a firm is a valuable resource, needs to be retained and that ethnocentric monitoring must be reconsidered. This research focuses on the TMT and their value to the firm to help explain the variation in acquisition success. Thus post-acquisition integration and monitoring must account for this valuable asset.Novo globalno tržište u nekim je organizacijama i industrijama dovelo do promjena u oblicima i načinu provođenja strategije, te do većeg oslanjanja na međunarodno osoblje. Ulazak na globalno tržište kao i uspjeh na njemu, ostvaren akumulacijom znanja, za mnoga je poduzeća postao zamašnjak održivih konkurentskih/razvojnih prednosti. Brojne organizacije odlučuju se za strategiju orijentiranu na međunarodne akvizicije na inozemnim tržištima kako bi se mogle učinkovito natjecati s konkurencijom u sadašnjem dinamičnom okruženju, koje je podložno sve većim promjenama. Nakon obavljanja akvizicije, praćenje poslovanja nove međunarodne podružnice od strane američkih poduzeća uglavnom je primjer etnocentrične primjene domaćih standarda i načina nadziranja. Smatramo da je najviše rukovodstvo svakog poduzeća vrlo vrijedan resurs, koji valja zadržati, a da bi se trebalo preispitati etnocentričnost praćenja i nadzora. Ovo se istraživanje usredotočuje na najviše rukovodstvo i njegovu vrijednost za poduzeće pri objašnjavanju varijacije akvizicijskog uspjeha. Zbog toga postakvizicijska integracija i praćenje moraju odgovarati za ovu vrijednu imovinu

A key to prosperity in hypercompetitive markets: organizational “hyperflexibility”

Today’s global business mindset requires flexibility and the ability to make changes to our organization, at all levels, quickly. Organizational flexibility is achieved when any component of an organization, and any individual within an organization, can be flexible if and when needed We have been limiting ourselves by equating organizational flexibility with specific, narrowly conceived types of flexibility, such as strategic, operational or labor flexibility. In this paper, we apply the classic Katz and Kahn1 open systems conceptualization of an organization and its subsystems in order to more broadly conceive the concept of organizational flexibility. We then illustrate how the types of flexibility that have been discussed in the literature to date fit into these subsystems, and that the application of the open systems framework both grounds the concept of organizational flexibility in open systems theory and illuminates the ways in which organizations and individuals need to be flexible in order to prosper in today’s hypercompetitive markets

Small and medium-sized firms top management teams’ decision making in global acquisitions

The new global marketplace has caused changes in some organizations’/industries’ forms and execution of strategy and reliance on international personnel. Entry and success through the accumulation of knowledge in the global marketplace have become the impetus for sustainable competitive/developmental advantage for many corporations. Many organizations choose a strategy focusing on international acquisitions in foreign markets to compete effectively in the current ever-changing dynamic competitive landscape. After acquisition, the monitoring of the operations of the new international subsidiary by US firms typically is an ethnocentric example of applying home-country standards and controls. We suggest that the top management team (TMT) of a firm is a valuable resource, needs to be retained and that ethnocentric monitoring must be reconsidered. This research focuses on the TMT and their value to the firm to help explain the variation in acquisition success. Thus post-acquisition integration and monitoring must account for this valuable asset

Ključ napretka na hiperkonkurentnim tržištima: organizacijska “hiperfleksibilnost”

Today’s global business mindset requires flexibility and the ability to make changes to our organization, at all levels, quickly. Organizational flexibility is achieved when any component of an organization, and any individual within an organization, can be flexible if and when needed We have been limiting ourselves by equating organizational flexibility with specific, narrowly conceived types of flexibility, such as strategic, operational or labor flexibility. In this paper, we apply the classic Katz and Kahn1 open systems conceptualization of an organization and its subsystems in order to more broadly conceive the concept of organizational flexibility. We then illustrate how the types of flexibility that have been discussed in the literature to date fit into these subsystems, and that the application of the open systems framework both grounds the concept of organizational flexibility in open systems theory and illuminates the ways in which organizations and individuals need to be fl exible in order to prosper in today’s hypercompetitive markets.Današnji globalni način promišljanja zahtijeva fleksibilnost i sposobnost brzog uvođenja organizacijskih promjena na svim razinama. Organizacijska se fleksibilnost postiže kada se, u slučaju potrebe, bilo koja komponenta organizacije i bilo koji pojedinac unutar nje mogu prilagoditi. Do sada smo se ograničavali izjednačujući organizacijsku fleksibilnost sa specifičnim, uže postavljenim vrstama fleksibilnosti kao što su strateška i operativna fleksibilnost te fleksibilnost radne snage. U radu primjenjujemo klasični Katz i Kahnov otvoreni sustav poimanja organizacije i njezinih podsustava radi postavljanja širega pojma organizacijske fleksibilnosti. Potom prikazujemo na koji se način pojedine vrste fleksibilnosti, proučene kroz literaturu do danas, uklapaju u navedene podsustave te upućujemo na to kako primjena okvira otvorenog sustava ne samo da pojam organizacijske fleksibilnosti zasniva na teoriji otvorenih sustava, nego i pojašnjava načine fleksibilizacije organizacija i pojedinaca radi postizanja uspjeha na današnjim hiperkonkurentnim tržištima

Supply chain management as the key to a firm’s strategy in the global marketplace

Purpose: This research aims to analyze the intersection of two literature streams: that of strategy and supply chain management (SCM). This review should create a better understanding of “strategic SCM” by focusing on relevant theories in the strategic management field and their intersection with SCM to develop a joint research agenda. Design/Methodology/Approach: We conducted a correspondence analysis on the content of 3,402 articles from the top SCM journals. This analysis provides a map of the intellectual structure of content in this field to date. The key trends and changes were identified in strategic SCM research from 1990-2014 as well as the intersection with the key schools of strategic management. Findings: The results suggest that SCM is key to a successful deployment of strategy for competing in the global marketplace. The main theoretical foundations for research in this field were identified and discussed. Gaps were detected and combinations of theoretical foundations of strategic management and SCM suggest four poles for future research: agents and focal firm; distributions and logistics strategic models; SCM competitive requirements; SCM relational governance. Research limitations/implications: Scholars in both the strategy and the SCM fields continue to search for competitive advantages. Much recent research indicates that strategic SCM can be a critical source for that advantage. One of the limitations of our research is that the analysis does not include every journal that published an article mentioning SCM. However, the 34 journals selected are reputed to be the most influential on SCM and focused primarily on SCM. Practical implications: The map of the intellectual structure of research to strategic SCM highlights the need to combine different theoretical approaches to the complex phenomenon of SCM. Practitioners should consider the supply chain as an informal organization and should devote time and resources to build a shared advantage across the supply chain. They should also consider the inherent benefits and risks that sharing Originality/value: The paper demonstrates that strategic SCM needs a balanced and rigorous combination of theoretical approaches to deliver more theory-driven evidences. Our research combines both a qualitative analysis and a quantitative methodology that summarizes gaps and then outlines future research from a large sample of articles. This methodology is an original contribution to this field and offers some assistance for enlarging the sample of future literature reviews

Global organizations and supply chain: new research avenues in the international human resource management

Purpose: This article aims at proposing a research agenda in the intersection of strategic supply chain management and logistics (SCML) of global organizations from the perspective of international human resource management (IHRM). Design/methodology/approach: To disclose the intellectual structure of research to date across both fields, the content of up to 280 articles dealing with IHRM and 174 papers addressing challenges in SCML in global organizations from a human resource management (HRM) viewpoint were analyzed. A stepwise hierarchical cluster and discriminant analysis were conducted to map a joint research agenda. Approaches from Upper Echelons theory and co-evolutionary theory of global organizations were adopted. Findings: Top management teams are crucial to manage SCML successfully in today’s global organizations. Research on this intersection should draw attention to find antecedents, consequences and the process showing how those talented people grouped in dispersed teams can be a source of competitive advantage. Six different areas of research are proposed. After discussing them, it is proposed that the mainstream should focus on the human capital, those key individuals of an organization that make things happen. In the near future, the global organization’s competitiveness will be shaped by how the organization manages its Human Capital (HC) in SCML. Methodologies such as meta-analysis are suggested to summarize the extant literature on IHRM when applied to SCML in global organizations. Research limitations/implications: The search was conducted in SSCI-ISIWoK and Scopus databases. As a limitation, some articles and other scientific contributions not abstracted there were not included. Nevertheless, both searches enabled obtaining balanced results between scope and richness of content. Originality/value: Only a marginal portion of literature reviews have been conducted by using mixed methods in the fields of IHRM and SCML. The results will be useful for scholars of both fields in their attempts to enlarge the knowledge boundaries in these areas. From a practitioner’s viewpoint, this research may provide an integrative framework for global organizations to build a competitive advantage based on managing HC and its SCML strategically

Serial entrepreneurs: A review of literature and guidance for future research

Little research has been conducted regarding serial entrepreneurship compared to entrepreneurship research more broadly, despite research that suggests that asmany as 50% of all entrepreneurs are serial entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship research shows that most new ventures fail, yet serial entrepreneurs continually exit previous ventures and start new ones. Our study explores 118 scholarly articles indexed in Web of Science and Scopus databases on serial entrepreneurship through multiple correspondence analysis. Through our analysis, we identify key areas for future research, explore and consolidate the theoretical foundations used, and provide a review of academic literature for future researchers to utilize. Our perceptual map has identified four key research areas that researchers should focus upon: heuristics in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial capabilities, the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and technological development and resources

Past and future decline of tropical pelagic biodiversity

Author's accepted version (postprint).This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by the National Academy of Sciences in PNAS on 26/05/2020.Available online: https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/117/23/12891.full.pdfA major research question concerning global pelagic biodiversity remains unanswered: when did the apparent tropical biodiversity depression (i.e., bimodality of latitudinal diversity gradient [LDG]) begin? The bimodal LDG may be a consequence of recent ocean warming or of deep-time evolutionary speciation and extinction processes. Using rich fossil datasets of planktonic foraminifers, we show here that a unimodal (or only weakly bimodal) diversity gradient, with a plateau in the tropics, occurred during the last ice age and has since then developed into a bimodal gradient through species distribution shifts driven by postglacial ocean warming. The bimodal LDG likely emerged before the Anthropocene and industrialization, and perhaps ∼15,000 y ago, indicating a strong environmental control of tropical diversity even before the start of anthropogenic warming. However, our model projections suggest that future anthropogenic warming further diminishes tropical pelagic diversity to a level not seen in millions of years.acceptedVersio