Mergers and acquisitions as strategic decisions for a decision-making theory

• Main Author: ZHANG, Man
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: Decision-making; behavioral theory of the firm; institutional logic; strategic change; coalition; Organizational Behavior and Theory; Strategic Management Policy
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6838
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This chapter presents a personal research journey starting from my interest in firm’s decision making within the tradition of the behavioral theory of the firm to discovering mergers and acquisitions as an ideal decision context to advance the theory. Using my two articles published in the Academy of Management Journal as examples, I showcase how to leverage the specific attributes of mergers and acquisitions together with the institutional context in which they occur to develop and test new theories. Each paper addresses a distinctive research question and provides a unique angle of theoretical insights to the theory of decision making. In particular, I was able to dig deeper into the mechanisms of institutional logic, power, and coalition building for explaining how firms make strategic decisions, all owing to the significance and versatility of mergers and acquisitions.