Personal Quarterly 4/2021

45 04 / 21 PERSONALquarterly PROF. DR. GÖTZ WALTER Business Psychology & HR International School of Management ISM München E-Mail: goetz.walter@ism.de https://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-dr-gö tz- walter-483716198 DÉSIRÉE CHARLOTTE SCHWEIG, M.SC. Business Psychology & HR International School of Management ISM München E-Mail: desiree.schweig@student.ism.de PROF. DR. PETER RATHNOW Strategy, Finance & Innovation International School of Management ISM München E-Mail: info@Rathnow.de SUMMARY Research question: Is the ‘human factor’ in M&As still neg- lected, and if so, why corporations fail to put the evidence-based management literature’s recommendation into practice? Methodology: Interviews with 12 experienced M&A consultants representing about 200 M&A-deals were conducted. Practical implications: All experts stated the importance of the ‘human factor’ for successful M&A transactions and perceived a neglect of such measures in current M&A activities. An adapted M&A governance setup might help; however, real change is only possible if the mindset of involved managers changes. befragten Experten zeigten vielerorts einen breiten Konsens, was darauf hinzudeuten scheint, dass die Forschungsergeb- nisse die Realität angemessen widerspiegeln. Es darf jedoch nicht vergessen werden, dass unsere Experten möglicherwei- se auch bestrebt waren, ihre kognitive Dissonanz in Bezug auf den richtigen Umgang mit M&As zu verringern. Daher könnte es zu einfach sein, nur die beteiligten Manager zu beschuldigen. Außerdem umfasste die Stichprobe in dieser Studie ausschließlich Unternehmensberater in Deutschland. Während die Autoren dieser Studie der Meinung sind, dass die Ergebnisse auch in einem internationalen Kontext gültig sein dürften, muss dies durch weitere Studien überprüft werden, die idealerweise quantitative und mehr internationale Daten umfassen sollten. LITERATURVERZEICHNIS Angwin, D. N./Mellahi, K./Gomes, K./Emmanuel, P. (2016): How commu- nication approaches impact mergers and acquisitions outcomes. The Interna- tional Journal of Human Resource Management, 27 (20), S. 2370-2397. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2014.985330. Bauer, F./Matzler, K. (2014): Antecedents of M&A success: The Role of Strategic Complementarity, Cultural Fit, and Degree and Speed of Integration. Strategic Management Journal, 35, S. 269-291. doi: 10.1002/smj.2091. Cooke, F.L. (2016): Human Resource Management in the context of Mergers and Acquistions. In: S.Y. Tarba, C.L. Cooper, R.M. Sarala and M.F. Ahammad (Hrsg.), Mergers and Acquistions in Practice, S. 122-137. New York: Routlegde. DePamphilis, D. M. (2019): Mergers, Acquistions, and Other Restructuring Activi- ties, 10th Edition. Burlington, MA: Academic Press. Distler, J. (2018): Acquisitions by Emerging Multinational Corporations: Motivation and Performance of Transactions in Western Europe and North America. Berlin, Heidelberg: Gabler. Evans, J.B.T. (2008): Dual-Processing Accounts of Reasoning, Judgment, and Social Cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59 (1), S. 255-278. doi: 10.1146/annurev. psych.59.103006.093629. Festinger, L. (1957): A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. California: Stanford Univer- sity Press. Gomes, E./Angwin, D.N./Weber, Y./Tarba, S.Y. (2013): Critical Success Factors through the Mergers and Acquisitions Process Revealing Pre- and Post- M&A Con- nections for Improved Performace. Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 55, No.1, S. 13-35. doi: 10.1002/tie.21521. Klendauer, R./Frey, D./Jonas, E./Kauffeld, S. (2003): Psychologische Erfolgs- faktoren bei Fusionen und Akquisitionen. In: M.-O. Schwaab, D. Frey and J. Hesse (Hrsg.), Fusionen – Herausforderungen für das Personalmanagement, S. 193-213. Heidelberg: Verlag Recht und Wirtschaft. Kotter, J. P. (1996): Leading Change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Rathnow, P. (2014): Internationales Management, 2nd Edition. Munich: De Gruyter. Rathnow, P./Walter, G. (2018): Erfolgsfaktor Unternehmenskultur: Fünf Bausteine für erfolgreiche M&A. Controller Magazin, 1, S. 40-46. Sarala, R.M./Vaara, E./Junni, P. (2019): Beyond merger syndrome and cultural differences: New avenues for research on the „human side“ of global mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Journal of World Business, 54, S. 307-321. doi: 10.1016/j. jwb.2017.10.001. Weber, Y./Tarba, S.Y. (2012): Mergers and acquisitions process: the use of corpo- rate culture analysis. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 19 (3), S. 288-303. doi: 10.1108/13527601211247053. Witzmann, N./Dörrenbächer, C. (2016): The Link between Cultural Due Dilligence and Sociocultural Post-Merger Integration Management as a critical success factor in M&As. In S.Y. Tarba, C.L. Cooper, R.M. Sarala and M.F. Ahammad (Hrsg.), Mergers and Acquistions in Practice, S. 199-221. New York: Routledge.