United We Stand: An Ecosystem Approach to Integration-Autonomy Dilemma in Post-merger Integration

Firms engaging in post-merger integration (PMI) confront a long-standing dilemma: integrating the target firm may render detrimental impacts due to loss of autonomy. To address such an integration-autonomy dilemma, we conducted an in-depth qualitative study on a home appliance ecosystem leader’s merger and acquisitions. We develop a three-stage model of facilitating the PMI process with ecosystems that unfolds through a series of inter-connected mechanisms, i.e., harmonizing ecosystem identity, building ecosystem complementarities and nurturing ecosystem generativity. We introduce an ecosystem approach that features the multilateral interactions between the target firms with other constituents in the acquirer’s broader ecosystem over time to balance the integration and autonomy. Our findings contribute by reconciling the integration-autonomy dichotomy in the traditional PMI literature and extending the scope of PMI from target-acquirer dyads to ecosystem triads amid integration with the acquirer’s ecosystem.