| 1. |
- Anderson, Helén, 1954-, et al.
(författare)
-
A meta analysis of Swedish doctoral dissertations on mergers and acquisitions
- 2009
-
Ingår i: IMP Asia 2009. - Kuala Lumpur : IMP.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are complex and frequent business phenomena. Over the years, quite some research has been made on many different aspects of mergers and acquisitions, but the phenomenon is still far from understood. In this paper we analyze in total 57 doctoral dissertations that focus on mergers and acquisitions that have been presented and defended at Swedish Universities and Business Schools between the years 1971-2008. Our aim is to contribute to a more comprehensive picture of the state-of-the-art of the existing body of knowledge on mergers and acquisitions. In this first analysis we give a general overview of the dissertations.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Dahlin, Peter, et al.
(författare)
-
Diving into "merger waves" : An analysis of inter-firm linkages in acquisitions
- 2009
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper takes its starting point in the literature dealing with "merger waves". A merger wave basically denotes a period of time when an abnormal amount of mergers and acquisitions takes place. Such merger waves are usually described as occurring in cyclical patterns, and a number of them have been described over the last centuries. Merger waves are mostly studied as a macro level phenomenon, as an aggregate of mergers and acquisitions occurring over time within an industry or in the general business environment. A merger or an acquisition inevitably changes the type of linkages between the involved companies since two companies are consolidated to one or get the same owner. Furthermore, earlier studies show that a merger or an acquisition may change the involved companies' relationships to customers and suppliers, as well as to competitors and partners. However, what is lacking in the literature is a deeper understanding of how merger waves emerge (and evolve) through structural linkages between firms. Mergers and acquisitions are strategic decisions made at the micro-level, i.e. in companies, that potentially accumulate into merger waves and thereby become manifested at the macro-level. It is interesting to ask what happens in between these levels, in networks of inter-firm relationships, which ultimately mediate the emergence of merger waves. Therefore, in this paper we will examine acquiring companies' inter-firm linkages in order to shed light on the meso-level of merger waves.A number of questions drive our analysis. Who gets involved in acquisitions besides the acquirer and the target? Is the merger wave just a result of the strategic actions of a few active acquirers, so called "sharks", or are the waves truly an industry-wide phenomenon? And to whom do merger waves matter? Do they involve only a few active companies or should every firm in the business be concerned? Is it possible to connect several acquisitions through inter-firm linkages over time, and in this way describe the emergence of a merger wave? In these analyses, different perspectives come to use, and ultimately the question should be asked whether it is at all relevant to talk about merger waves.The empirical material consists of data on 723 acquisitions that were made between 1994 and 2003 in Sweden. The acquiring companies are either IT-companies or companies acquiring IT-companies. Thus, the setting represents a turbulent era, which often is referred to as the "IT-boom", "IT-crash" or "IT-bubble" with many start-ups, but also with many mergers and acquisitions. By analysing acquisitions, it is possible to identify active and less active acquirers over the time period. Also, by studying inter-firm linkages, not only to the target, but also some customers of the acquirer and the target, we are able to "decompose" the merger wave and show that strategic actions, such as acquisitions, may have wider consequences to the business through the inter-firm linkages forming business networks.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Dahlin, Peter, et al.
(författare)
-
Netquakes - Describing Effects of Ending Business Relationships on Business Networks
- 2005
-
Ingår i: 21st Annual IMP Conference, Rotterdam, 2005.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Business network dynamics and change in business networks are most often discussed from the perspective of a focal business relationship and business relationships, for example customers and/or suppliers, connected to the focal dyad. This type of studies focus on how one relationship influences another directly connected relationship. Most often the indirectly connected business relationships, such as customers’ customers, are not considered. This means that we still know very little about how change spreads further in business networks.The purpose of this paper is to elaborate further on the spread of change in business networks by focusing on the process following the ending of a business relationship. For understanding this process of change in business networks we propose a framework that is inspired from the study of earthquakes in seismology, here called “netquakes” (Dahlin, Havila & Thilenius, 2004). When enough “stress” is involved in the relationship it needs to be released. In some situations this “stress” leads to termination of the business relationship. This, in turn, could start a netquake process in the surrounding business network.The strength of the netquake process can be observed through the effects of the ending business relationship in the connected relationships. The higher the effect in the business network the stronger the netquake. The ending of the business relationship, in turn, “releases energy” into the business network causing uncertainty that can be observed by the effects in the business network. The ending of some business relationships “shake the ground” far away from the ending business relationship, whereas some business relationships end without any effect on the surrounding business network. We illustrate our discussion on the different types of netquake processes by three empirical examples.
|
|
| 7. |
- Dahlin, Peter, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
-
Network Connectivity and Business Netquakes : Ways to Understand the Spread of Change
- 2008
-
Ingår i: 24th IMP-conference.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Business network dynamics are generally discussed from the perspective of a focal business relationship and of relationships (e.g. with customers and/or suppliers) connected to it. Such studies examine how direct relationships influence each other, while indirect business relationships (e.g. with customers’ customers) are generally ignored. Thus, we still know little of how change spreads in business networks. We propose a framework inspired by seismology, using the term ‘netquake’ to describe spread of change in business networks. In a business network, the effects of a netquake can basically take two forms: 1) change in the interaction between actors in the existing structure of connected ongoing business relationships, and 2) change in the overall network structure of connected relationships, by ending existing business relationships or initiating new ones. We propose that the intensity of a netquake can be identified using these basic forms of change in the network. The more changes in the network structure of connected relationships in relation to the amount of adaptation in the ongoing connected relationships, the higher the intensity of the netquake. Earlier business network studies have shown that business relationships affect each other, which has been described as connectedness. In this paper we discuss connectedness at network level, i.e. network connectivity, as an important factor for understanding variations in netquake intensity. High level of connectivity means that changes spread easily in the network, whereas a low level of connectivity moderates the spreading, and thus the business netquake intensity. The analysis is based on structural linkages of bankruptcies among Swedish IT-companies. The bankruptcies are both seen as the epicentre of business netquakes, and as effects of other netquakes. The spread of change can consequently be addressed through the occurrence of bankruptcies, and other types of effects are thus disregarded in this study. A higher level of network connectivity can be assumed in situations where many bankruptcies can be linked through connected business relationships, indicating high netquake intensity, whereas isolated bankruptcies, indicating low netquake intensity, are expected in structures with lower connectivity. The analysis indicates a large variability of the observable structural linkages of bankruptcies, and supports network connectivity as an important concept to understand spread of change in business networks.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Dahlin, Peter, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
-
The Role of Events in the Change of Business Networks : A Challenge for Strategy?
- 2008
-
Ingår i: 5th Nordic Workshop on Relationship Dynamics.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper takes its starting point in the so called business network approach, which is based on the notion that companies build exchange relationships with other companies; relationships that, in turn, are the building blocks of business networks. Through business relationships the companies become connected, both directly and indirectly, to other parts of the business network, for example, to customers’ customers and suppliers’ suppliers. The connectedness of relationships means that changes taking place in one part of the network may spread far into its other parts. The change of business networks has generally been discussed from the perspective of a focal company or a focal business relationship and of relationships directly connected to it. Usually indirect business relationships (e.g. with customers’ customers) are ignored. Thus, we still know very little of how change spreads further in business networks. Business network change is, however, a strategic concern for companies, who compete in networked environments and are increasingly dependent on external linkages as a source of resources. In this paper the purpose is to propose an event-based approach to the study of business network change. Events form the principal point of access to social action in time and can thus be used as windows for network dynamics. So far network change has been examined from the perspective of network structure, taking a defined network as a starting point, and studying the trajectory, change pattern or development process of the structure. We adopt an alternative approach here, taking the change itself as a starting point and selecting discernible change episodes, i.e. events, as the focus of our discussion. This offers a dynamic view on networks, and releases the investigator from strict ex ante limitation of the network in focus. Events are seen as manifestations of change forces causing various changes in business networks, ultimately leading to other important events. Events such as mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies are often connected to each other, creating event sequences that may restructure significantly the business network in which companies realize and enact their strategy. In the best case, events provide opportunities for firms to restructure the network and to improve their positions within it. However, our results pinpoint the complexity and dynamics of network environments and the challenge strategic management faces in such environments. In the context of merger and acquisition waves and various simultaneously occurring events, it may be extremely difficult to choose one’s own actions, and to see the long-term ramifications of one’s own and others’ actions.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
