How communication approaches impact mergers and acquisitions outcomes

Angwin, Duncan; Mellahi, Kamel; Gomes, Emanuel; Peter, Emmanuel

Abstract

Communication is generally viewed as a critical component in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) performance, yet surprisingly little research has examined the link between different communication approaches and M&A outcomes. This paper provides a systematic empirical study to evaluate the link between communication approaches and M&As outcome. Specifically, a typology is created to examine interaction between the process and content of communication and M&A outcomes, in terms of employee commitment to merged organization strategy and M&A survival. Using data drawn from a single clearly defined M&A wave in the Nigerian banking sector, different communication practices are related to M&A outcomes. The findings are the first to show the effects of communications practices in African M&A and answer the calls for extending M&A research beyond western developed countries. They confirm the importance of communication practices in M&A, extend earlier findings on the importance of post-acquisition integration communication in US and European contexts and show the importance of communicating throughout the whole M&A process.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 3, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Dec 3, 2014
• Publication Date: Dec 5, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jun 8, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 3, 2016
• Print ISSN: 0958-5192
• Electronic ISSN: 1466-4399
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 20
• Pages: 2370-2397
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2014.985330
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4093033
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09585192.2014.985330