Publication

Book	Mergers and Acquisitions in Practice
Editor	, Sarala Riikka ; , Cooper Cary; , Ahammad Mohammed; , Tarba Shlomo
Publisher	Routledge, New York
Page(s)	183 - 198
ISBN	1317659562
Title of proceedings	Mergers and Acquisitions in Practice

URL	https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344127201_Multiple_shared_identities_in_cross-border_MAs_conceptual_framework_in_Cooper_Sarala_and_Tarba_MAs_in_Practice_Routledge_pp183-198
Type of Open Access	Green OA Embargo (Freely available via Repository after an embargo)

The recent academic literature reveals that constructing a shared identity is crucial to the success of mergers and acquisitions (Lupina-Wegener, Schneider, & van Dick, 2011; Marks & Mirvis, 2011) as in line with the social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). While past research focused on shared identity construction in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) between freestanding organizations, cross-border deals remain underexplored. In cross-border M&As, one organization becomes nested in a new, larger organizational and cultural context. In such conditions, shared identity might need to account for both internal and external foci. indeed, a longitudinal qualitative case study conducted by Lupina-Wegener, Schneider & van Dick (forthcoming) reveal that in subsidiary M&As, a shared identity needs to incorporate and unite the post-merger subsidiary on the national, regional and global levels c.f. optimal shared identity. Thus, it might not be enough to operationalize shared identity on the level of the post-merger organization only, as a shared identity may draw its characteristics on only from pre-merger identities, but also from local environments (MNC, industry or competition). Building on institutional theory, we argue that a post-merger organization might also draw identity’s characteristics from universal environments (nation, geographic clusters). In this chapter, we advance existing knowledge on M&As by integrating two complementary theoretical perspectives to identity construction: social identity and institutional theories.