On the role of communication and management engagement for acquisition success: A study of Israeli startups

Objective: The aim of this paper is to shed light on the effects of communication and management engagement on start-up acquisition success. Research Design & Methods: The present paper adopts a behavioural perspective and uses a set of quantitative data collected from start-up companies from Israel, which were taken over by international firms, in order to explore the role of acquired firm’s management. Particular emphasis is put on communication and the managerial engagement in the post-acquisition stage. Findings: Partial empirical support for these relationships can be found. Subsequently, a number of avenues for future research are discussed. Implications & Recommendations: Specifically, it is argued that communication and management engagement mediates the influence of a number of employee-related and organisational factors on acquisition performance. Contribution & Value Added: Taking into account the significant failure rate of international acquisitions, the identification of their critical success factors is an important issue. This pertains also to the acquisition of start-ups by established firms, for which it is a strategy for enhancing their technological base. The paper also contributes to extant literature by adopting the acquired firm’s perspective.