Chinese multinationals post-merger integration evolutions in developed markets from autonomy to actual-form integration: a lens of ambidexterity
ISSN: 1750-614X
Article publication date: 13 September 2022
Issue publication date: 13 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how Chinese multinational enterprises’ (CMNEs) autonomy-style post-merger integration (PMI) modes of managing developed-market targets evolve into actual-form integration through the lens of ambidexterity.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts multi-case comparisons with content analysis. A data set was collected from 37 conversations by in-depth interviewing 29 respondents regarding four cases of Chinese acquisitions in the German market.
Findings
This study develops a three-stage framework that theorised CMNEs’ autonomy PMIs’ evolution to actual-form integration over time and the effect on acquisition value based on structural, temporal and contextual ambidexterity manifestations. The findings divide the evolutionary trajectory into two sub-trajectories, from great autonomy to autonomy-integration balanced or full integration, to illuminate the effect of different degrees of actual-form integration on value creation or value destruction.
Originality/value
The existing literature on CMNEs’ PMI discovered that CMNEs frequently grant ample autonomy when managing targets acquired from developed markets. However, long-term acquisition benefit is dependent on combining autonomy and actual-form integration; insights into how this can be accomplished are limited. The research is unique in that it reveals the evolutions of CMNEs’ PMIs on developed-market targets, from autonomy to actual-form integration through the lens of ambidexterity.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors sincerely appreciate the Editor Prof Cherrie Zhu and the Associate Editor Prof Li Yi for the work on this paper. The authors would like to thank all anonymous reviewers for their efforts and valuable suggestions that helped us to improve this paper significantly. The authors are sincerely grateful to all interview respondents in this study for providing insightful data for our research.
Research funding: This work was financially supported by the Newly Introduced Teachers’ Scientific Research Start-up Funding in North China University of Technology (Project No. 110051360002). The authors sincerely thank the funder for providing financial support for the interview data collection of this study and the language proofreading service of this paper.
Citation
Yang, Y. (2023), "Chinese multinationals post-merger integration evolutions in developed markets from autonomy to actual-form integration: a lens of ambidexterity", Chinese Management Studies, Vol. 17 No. 5, pp. 1085-1116. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-12-2021-0526
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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