'e-Bangi, Journal of Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities'
Abstract
Cross-border acquisitions (CBAs), as organisational entities which are formed
and controlled by foreign firms, are one of the most effective methods of
expansion available to international firms. Cross-border acquisition is a highly
complex and multi-faceted business model which presents several challenges for
management. Over the past several years, CBA has become a more frequent
target for research in business, and has received significant attention from
academia and practitioners alike.
The aim of this research is to investigate the factors that impact interorganizational
trust and as an outcome, the performance of CBAs in Iraq and the
United Arab Emirates (UAE). According Fadol and Sandhu, (2013), Abosag and
Lee, (2012), there are few studies that focused on alliances in Middle Eastern
countries and more studies on these areas are required.
The empirical study is preceded by a review of the existing literature that led to
the development of a conceptual framework for this research. The target
population samples for this research were collected from four target firm’s
employees in Iraq and the UAE, where those firms were identified as having
acquired by firms from Western Europe and Asia. The research tool used to
collect the necessary data was a survey questionnaire, and the data analysis was
undertaken using SPSS and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).
The findings of this study identify that relationship history, inter-firm distance, and
integration approach factors have a positive impact on the level of target firm
members’ trust; while factors such as collaboration history, complementarity, and
autonomy preservation were not found to have a positive and significantly related
to the trust.
Moreover, Country risk was found to have a negative and significant relationship
with the trust. Religion was not found to be positive and significantly related to
the trust. Furthermore, positive relationship between trust and performance and
between commitment and performance were found.
The results of this study offer a framework that identifies the key factors in the
development of trust within CBAs and demonstrates that this trust and it’s
antecedents have a significant impact on firm performance in Middle Eastern
countries such as Iraq and UAE. The findings of this study offer us implications
for meaningful managerial practice in selecting cross-border competitors as
target firms