Power relations and international post-acquisition changes in the relationship network of the acquired firm

Based on the industrial network perspective and the distribution channel literature, this article deals with power and international post-acquisition changes that occurred in the relationships of the acquired firm with suppliers and buyers. Specifically, we investigate if and how the power variable affects international post-acquisition changes at the network level of the acquired firm. To do so, we developed a case study based on semi-structured interviews with a number of individuals from the acquirer, the acquired firm, suppliers and buyers. The main results point out that the acquisition triggered economic and non economic organizational practice changes at the supplier and buyer levels. Furthermore, they indicate that the acquirer used coercive and non coercive sources of power in order to introduce these changes. The use of these sources of power, in turn, was associated with the degree of dependence of suppliers and buyers in relation to the acquirer. Based on these results, we have developed a model with five new hypotheses that can be tested in future empirical studies.