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Mergers, acquisitions, and the pruning of managerial deadwood

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  • James P. Walsh
  • John W. Ellwood

Abstract

This research investigates the role that mergers and acquisitions may play in the disciplining of entrenched and inefficient managers. The relationship between a company's performance history and its subsequent top management turnover is assessed for a sample of target companies, their parents, and a control group of companies not involved in merger and acquisition activity. The results reveal that target company top management turnover is higher than ‘normal’ in the 2 years immediately following a merger or acquisition, but there is no relationship between previous target company performance and its subsequent top management turnover. Further analyses indicate that first‐year target company turnover rates are associated with a history of relatively poor parent company performance, while second‐year turnover rates are associated with a history of relatively good parent company performance.

Suggested Citation

  • James P. Walsh & John W. Ellwood, 1991. "Mergers, acquisitions, and the pruning of managerial deadwood," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 201-217, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:12:y:1991:i:3:p:201-217
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.4250120304
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    Cited by:

    1. Stefano CLO & Chiara F. DEL BO & Matteo FERRARIS & Massimo FLORIO & Daniela VANDONE & Carlo FIORIO, 2015. "Public Enterprises In The Market For Corporate Control: Recent Worldwide Evidence," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(4), pages 559-583, December.
    2. Maurizio Zollo, 1998. "Strategies or Routines ? Knowledge Codification, Path-Dependence and the Evolution of Post-Acquisition Integration Practices in the U.S. Banking Industry," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 97-10, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania.
    3. Roberto A. Weber & Colin F. Camerer, 2003. "Cultural Conflict and Merger Failure: An Experimental Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 400-415, April.
    4. Julie Wulf & Harbir Singh, 2011. "How Do Acquirers Retain Successful Target CEOs? The Role of Governance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(12), pages 2101-2114, December.
    5. Krug, Jeffrey A. & Nigh, Douglas, 1998. "Top management departures in cross-border acquisitions: Governance issues in an international context," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 267-287, December.
    6. Noel O'Sullivan & Pauline Wong, 1999. "Board composition, ownership structure and hostile takeovers: some UK evidence," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 139-155.
    7. Ahammad, Mohammad Faisal & Tarba, Shlomo Yedidia & Liu, Yipeng & Glaister, Keith W., 2016. "Knowledge transfer and cross-border acquisition performance: The impact of cultural distance and employee retention," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 66-75.
    8. Wu, Joanna Shuang & Zang, Amy Y., 2009. "What determine financial analysts' career outcomes during mergers?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1-2), pages 59-86, March.
    9. Stefano CLÒ & Chiara F. DEL BÒ & Matteo FERRARIS & Carlo FIORIO & Massimo FLORIO & Daniela VANDONE, 2014. "Publicization versus Privatization: Recent worldwide evidence," CIRIEC Working Papers 1403, CIRIEC - Université de Liège.
    10. Marco Testoni & Mariko Sakakibara & M. Keith Chen, 2022. "Face‐to‐face interactions and the returns to acquisitions: Evidence from smartphone geolocational data," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(13), pages 2669-2702, December.
    11. Maurizio Zollo & Jeffrey J. Reuer, 2010. "Experience Spillovers Across Corporate Development Activities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(6), pages 1195-1212, December.
    12. Bugeja, Martin, 2007. "Voluntary use of independent valuation advice by target firm boards in takeovers," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 368-387, September.
    13. Jay Dahya & Ronan Powell, 1998. "Ownership Structure, Managerial Turnover and Takeovers: Further U.K. Evidence on the Market for Corporate Control," Multinational Finance Journal, Multinational Finance Journal, vol. 2(1), pages 62-83, March.
    14. Swarnodeep HomRoy, 2015. "Are CEOs Replaced For Poor Performance? Effects of Takeovers and Governance on CEO Turnover," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 62(2), pages 149-170, May.
    15. Pearce II, John A. & Robinson, Richard Jr., 2004. "Hostile takeover defenses that maximize shareholder wealth," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 47(5), pages 15-24.
    16. Russell W. Coff, 1999. "How Buyers Cope with Uncertainty when Acquiring Firms in Knowledge-Intensive Industries: Caveat Emptor," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(2), pages 144-161, April.
    17. Ashkanasy, Neal M. & Holmes, Scott, 1995. "Perceptions of organizational ideology following merger: A longitudinal study of merging accounting firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 19-34, January.
    18. Nuria Alcalde Fradejas & Inés Pérez-Soba Aguilar, 2007. "Influencia de las ofertas públicas de adquisición sobre el empleo de las empresas adquiridas: un análisis empírico," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 31(1), pages 5-42, January.
    19. Harbir Singh & Maurizio Zollo, 1998. "The Impact of Knowledge Codification, Experience Trajectories and Integration Strategies on the Performance of Corporate Acquisitions," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 98-24, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania.
    20. Colombo, Massimo G. & Rabbiosi, Larissa, 2014. "Technological similarity, post-acquisition R&D reorganization, and innovation performance in horizontal acquisitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 1039-1054.
    21. Jake G. Messersmith & Jeong-Yeon Lee & James P. Guthrie & Yong-Yeon Ji, 2014. "Turnover at the Top: Executive Team Departures and Firm Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 776-793, June.
    22. Annette L. Ranft & Michael D. Lord, 2002. "Acquiring New Technologies and Capabilities: A Grounded Model of Acquisition Implementation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(4), pages 420-441, August.
    23. Kaveh Moghaddam & Thomas Weber & Pouya Seifzadeh & Sara Azarpanah, 2021. "Internal Reputation of the Firm: CEO Retention and Firm Market Performance," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(4), pages 205-221, November.
    24. Hirata Kenjiro & Suzuki Ayako & Takii Katsuya, 2023. "How general is managerial human capital?: Evidence from the Retention of Managers after M&As," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-40, January.

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