IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/maorev/v22y2026i5p_7.html

Prejudice and Emotional Sensemaking in Post-acquisition Integration: A Case Study of Chinese Acquisitions in the UK

Author

Listed:
  • He, Shaowei
  • Khan, Zaheer
  • Wood, Geoffrey
  • Tarba, Shlomo
  • Conroy, Kieran
  • Akhtar, Pervaiz

Abstract

Many mergers and acquisitions (M&As) fail, and an emerging body of literature highlights the role of prejudice in derailing the M&A process. While prejudice is frequently observed in M&As, strategies to mitigate these biases remain underexplored. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, this study focuses on Chinese acquisitions in the UK and examines how managers from both the acquired and acquiring organizations navigate prejudice through emotional sensemaking. The findings demonstrate that emotional sensemaking plays a critical role in shaping the post-acquisition integration (PAI) process and its outcomes. Specifically, sensemaking supported by emotional intelligence facilitates the accommodation or reduction of prejudice, while emotionally unintelligent sensemaking tends to reinforce it. By focusing on the dynamic, interactive emotional exchanges between managers at the micro level, this study offers a fresh lens on the integration process beyond traditional strategic or structural explanations. The study contributes to the literature by advancing the understanding of micro-level emotional sensemaking in the PAI, emphasizing the dynamic, interactive nature of emotional sensemaking between acquirer and acquiree managers, and its impact on the integration process and outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • He, Shaowei & Khan, Zaheer & Wood, Geoffrey & Tarba, Shlomo & Conroy, Kieran & Akhtar, Pervaiz, 2026. "Prejudice and Emotional Sensemaking in Post-acquisition Integration: A Case Study of Chinese Acquisitions in the UK," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(5), pages -7, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:maorev:v:22:y:2026:i:5:p:_7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1740877626101314/type/journal_article
    File Function: link to article abstract page
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cup:maorev:v:22:y:2026:i:5:p:_7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kirk Stebbing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cambridge.org/mor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.