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Opening the grey box: Social communities, knowledge and culture in acquisitions

Author

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  • Udo Zander

    (Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden)

  • Lena Zander

    (Uppsala University, Sweden)

Abstract

International acquisitions are today the most important foreign direct investment vehicle, and the ensuing integration processes are notoriously fraught with problems. We situate, discuss, and develop the main results of an early study in the knowledge-based view tradition – the award-winning Bresman, Birkinshaw, and Nobel (1999) article. To enhance and develop the central contributions regarding social communities, knowledge, and culture, we use the metaphor of unpacking the “grey box”. We argue that heavy socialization is a rational learning strategy, even if the acquirer aims at appropriating the target's technology or wishes to impose its dominant logic.

Suggested Citation

  • Udo Zander & Lena Zander, 2010. "Opening the grey box: Social communities, knowledge and culture in acquisitions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(1), pages 27-37, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jintbs:v:41:y:2010:i:1:p:27-37
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    Cited by:

    1. Taco H. Reus & Bruce T. Lamont & Kimberly M. Ellis, 2016. "A darker side of knowledge transfer following international acquisitions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5), pages 932-944, May.
    2. Ahammad, Mohammad Faisal & Tarba, Shlomo Yedidia & Liu, Yipeng & Glaister, Keith W., 2016. "Knowledge transfer and cross-border acquisition performance: The impact of cultural distance and employee retention," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 66-75.
    3. Srivastava, Saurabh & Singh, Shiwangi & Dhir, Sanjay, 2020. "Culture and International business research: A review and research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    4. Maximilian Palmié & Marco Zeschky & Stephan Winterhalter & Philipp Walter Sauter & Naomi Haefner & Oliver Gassmann, 2016. "Coordination mechanisms for international innovation in SMEs: effects on time-to-market and R&D task complexity as a moderator," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 273-294, February.
    5. Zaiyang Xie & Runhui Lin & Jie Mi & Na Li, 2019. "Improving Enterprises’ Cross-Border M&A Sustainability in the Globalization Age—Research on Acquisition and Application of the Foreign Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-19, June.
    6. Wang, Shouyang & Chin, Tachia, 2020. "A stratified system of knowledge and knowledge icebergs in cross-cultural business models: Synthesising ontological and epistemological views," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(4).
    7. Blomkvist, Katarina & Kappen, Philip & Zander, Ivo, 2014. "Superstar inventors—Towards a people-centric perspective on the geography of technological renewal in the multinational corporation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 669-682.
    8. Zeng, Rong & Grøgaard, Birgitte & Steel, Piers, 2018. "Complements or substitutes? A meta-analysis of the role of integration mechanisms for knowledge transfer in the MNE network," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 415-432.
    9. Qi Ai & Hui Tan, 2018. "The intra-firm knowledge transfer in the outward M&A of EMNCs: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 399-425, June.
    10. Yildiz, H. Emre, 2014. "Not All Differences Are the Same: Dual Roles of Status and Cultural Distance in Sociocultural Integration in Cross-border M&As," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 25-37.
    11. Li, Shenxue & Clark, Timothy & Sillince, John, 2018. "Constructing a strategy on the creation of core competencies for African companies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 204-213.
    12. Alimadadi, Siavash & Bengtson, Anna & Hadjikhani, Amjad, 2018. "How does uncertainty impact opportunity development in internationalization?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 161-172.
    13. Tung, Rosalie L., 2016. "New perspectives on human resource management in a global context," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 142-152.
    14. Moghaddam, Kaveh & Sethi, Deepak & Weber, Thomas & Wu, Jun, 2014. "The Smirk of Emerging Market Firms: A Modification of the Dunning's Typology of Internationalization Motivations," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 359-374.
    15. Stoian, Maria-Cristina & Tardios, Janja Annabel & Samdanis, Marios, 2024. "The knowledge-based view in international business: A systematic review of the literature and future research directions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2).
    16. Ai, Qi & Tan, Hui, 2020. "Uncovering neglected success factors in post-acquisition reverse capability transfer: Evidence from Chinese multinational corporations in Europe," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(3).
    17. Andrews, Daniel S. & Fainshmidt, Stav & Newburry, William & Parente, Ronaldo & Haensel, Kira, 2023. "What determines subunit integration in the multinational firm? A meta-analysis," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(6).
    18. Chengguang Li & Ilgaz Arikan & Oded Shenkar & Asli Arikan, 2020. "The impact of country-dyadic military conflicts on market reaction to cross-border acquisitions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(3), pages 299-325, April.
    19. Justice Kyei-Mensah, 2019. "Mergers and Acquisitions and Multinational Companies: A Review and Research Agenda," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(10), pages 17-31, October.
    20. Lim, Mi-Hee & Lee, Ji-Hwan, 2017. "National economic disparity and cross-border acquisition resolution," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 354-364.
    21. Satu Teerikangas & Olivier Irrmann, 2016. "Cultural Change Following International Acquisitions: Cohabiting the Tension Between Espoused and Practiced Cultures," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 195-226, April.
    22. Basuil, Dynah A. & Datta, Deepak K., 2017. "Value creation in cross-border acquisitions: The role of outside directors' human and social capital," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 35-44.

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