Leadership and Change in M&As

Editors

  • David Kroon, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • Olimpia Meglio, University of Naples "Federico II"
  • Nicola Mirc, Toulouse School of Management
  • Audrey Rouzies, Toulouse School of Management
  • Satu Teerikangas, Turku University

Description

Mergers and acquisitions serve as significant catalysts for organizational change, enabling leaders to reshape organizational boundaries and develop new capabilities. However, their implications extend far beyond the merging firms to affect employees, managers, customers, and communities. While M&A research has explored various themes and theoretical perspectives, most special issues have adopted narrow lenses focusing on single aspects like organizational culture or post-merger integration, leaving fundamental questions about how these large-scale transformations unfold.

M&As represent profound episodes of organizational change that disrupt established structures and challenge existing cultures. Yet research on M&As and change management has largely evolved separately, addressing similar questions about how people respond to uncertainty and how leaders enable adaptation without meaningful cross-fertilization. This special issue seeks to bridge these research communities, offering fresh perspectives on how actors at multiple levels shape M&A outcomes and navigate the tension between strategic ambition and human adaptability.

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Potential topics

  • M&As as continuous change: how firms handle deliberate design versus evolving circumstances, intended versus unintended change trajectories, and seizing opportunities while mitigating threats
  • Leadership and employee change agency in M&As: employees as sense makers, boundary spanners, and informal leaders; proactive versus passive roles in integration
  • Emotions and irrationality in M&As: hubris, anxiety, grief, excitement, overconfidence, and escalation of commitment in M&A decisions and integration
  • Changing relationships in M&As: renegotiating internal relationships among employees, teams, and leaders; external relationships with suppliers, customers, regulators, and communities; trust, social capital, and power dynamics
  • Digitalization and Technology in M&As: AI-driven analytics, ERP systems, collaboration software; digital capabilities as deal drivers; technology's impact on cultural dynamics and integration speed
  • M&As and Grand Challenges: role of M&As in addressing environmental degradation and global crises; economic and social sustainability; M&As as a force for good