Benefitting from Acquisition Experience During Integration: The Moderating Effect of Strategic M&A Intent

Research suggests that M&A performance improves through routinization and/or codified experience. Traditionally, acquisition research has drawn a direct link between the two knowledge accumulation mechanisms and acquisition performance. Yet, how lessons learned are captured and applied in subsequent events remains largely unanswered. We argue that routinization and codification may both result in standardized acquisition integration approaches that promise greater efficiency. Our results show that experience can be captured and applied through standardized acquisition integration approaches. Importantly, our findings show that a strategic M&A intent influences the relationships between routinization and codified experience, and standardized acquisition integration approaches. We find that a strong strategic M&A intent strengthens the relationship between codification and standardization, but it weakens the relationship between routinization and standardization. We test our hypotheses with a combination of primary survey and secondary data to offer managerial and research insights. By combining three pertinent M&A literature streams – acquisition experience, acquisition integration and acquisition intent – we shed light on the importance of organizational learning and strategic direction on acquisition performance.