University of Twente Student Theses
To merge or not to merge? Why a SME merger attempt has been cancelled : a case study research
Goossen, J.J. (2017) To merge or not to merge? Why a SME merger attempt has been cancelled : a case study research.
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| Abstract: | The merger and acquisition phenomenon is a widely researched academic domain. Despite extensive research into for example the reasoning behind this popular growth strategy for organisations. According to literature mergers or acquiring processes still fail 70% of the time. This explorative case study examines the merger processes more in-depth, by looking into the relationship between responsibility accounting and merger outcomes. The case study subjects indicate that a relationship can be expected between responsibility accounting and merger outcomes. Below, a management summary is given which provides an overview of the research purpose, research question and a summary of the most important results. Purpose: academic literature has indicated numerous times that, despite the increasing research into merger and acquisition processes, 70% of all merger or acquisition trajectories still fails. The merger of the organisations selected for this study has been cancelled before ending the integration process, and reflects therewith one of those failed cases. By an in-depth analysis into the case study organisations involved, an interaction with the assignment of responsibilities is expected, as a contributing factor towards merger successes or failures. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to exploratively examine the existence of a relation between the establishment of a responsibility accounting mechanism and merger successes, and furthermore examines how the organisations involved should prepare and improve themselves for another merger attempt. Research question: corresponding to the above stated research purpose and the increasing demand for further research into merger and acquisition trajectories, the following research question is formulated: How does responsibility accounting influence a merger and acquisition process and how can the organisations involved cope with this? Results: this research has shown that multiple internal challenges and dilemmas are experienced by the merging case study organisations. The empirical interview data has shown that a combination of the interactions of these challenges have eventually caused the merger cancellation. One of the major challenges that has been experienced by the various interviewees is related towards the established responsibility accounting mechanism. As responsibilities were set “too high” throughout the organisation. Moreover, business directors felt restricted due to authorisation regulations. In addition, the case study research has shown that shareholders had a huge influence on the eventually merger outcome. This study has shown six bottlenecks that have been experienced during this particular merger attempt, and eventually have led to the merger cancellation. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 83 economics |
| Programme: | Business Administration MSc (60644) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/72126 |
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