Post-acquisition control strategy and cross-border acquisition performance of Chinese MNEs: a fsQCA approach
ISSN: 0025-1747
Article publication date: 9 March 2021
Issue publication date: 2 November 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Post-acquisition control is a crucial factor affecting acquisition performance. We investigate how post-acquisition control strategy affects cross-border acquisition performance of Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) through a configurational perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on 70 cross-border acquisition cases by Chinese MNEs, we adopt fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to study the combined effects of strategic control, operational control, institutional distance, cultural distance, relative capacity and business relatedness on the cross-border acquisition performance.
Findings
On the basis of fuzzy set analysis of multiple interdependent factors, we identify six configurations that are conductive to achieving high cross-border acquisition performance and two configurations that relate to the absence of high performance, thus shedding light on the casually complex nature of performance drivers of acquisitions.
Originality/value
This study provides a holistic, configurational approach to investigating cross-border acquisition performance by emerging market firms. Our results provide some compelling evidence that accounts for the causal complexity of post-acquisition control strategies and acquisition outcomes in the context of emerging economies.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Associate Editor, Dr Guclu Atinc and one anonymous reviewer for their valuable comments and constructive suggestions. The research was accomplished in part when Dr Qi Yue was a visiting scholar in the Monte Ahuja College of Business at Cleveland State University under the supervision of Dr Ping Deng, August 2019–August 2020. The first author appreciates the support of National Social Science Foundation of China (#18BGL024), Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (#2018A0303130229) and Guangzhou Social Science Foundation of China (Grant #2019GZYB34). The second and corresponding author acknowledges support from the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (#71872053 and #71872161), the Ministry of Education (MOE) Project of Key Research Initiatives of Humanities and Social Sciences at Chinese Universities (#17JZD020) and the Monte Ahuja Endowment Fund for the Chair of Global Business at Cleveland State University.
Citation
Yue, Q., Deng, P., Cao, Y. and Hua, X. (2021), "Post-acquisition control strategy and cross-border acquisition performance of Chinese MNEs: a fsQCA approach", Management Decision, Vol. 59 No. 12, pp. 2970-2991. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-08-2020-0986
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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