LOADING

Playing Politics : An Upper Echelons’ Perspective on Political Behavior During Acquisition Decision Making

Lou, Bowen and Shepherd, Neil and Strobl, Andreas and Bauer, Florian (2024) Playing Politics : An Upper Echelons’ Perspective on Political Behavior During Acquisition Decision Making. British Journal of Management. ISSN 1045-3172

[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Political Behavior During Acquisitino Decision Making]
Text (Political Behavior During Acquisitino Decision Making)
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Political Behavior During Acquisitino Decision Making]
Text (Political Behavior During Acquisitino Decision Making)
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Political Behavior During Acquisitino Decision Making]
Text (Political Behavior During Acquisitino Decision Making)
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Political Behavior During Acquisitino Decision Making]
Text (Political Behavior During Acquisitino Decision Making)
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2040.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics) - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (0B)
[thumbnail of Playing Politics]
Text (Playing Politics)
Playing_Politics.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (501kB)

Abstract

The pre-deal phase of an acquisition is complex, with high stakes, and high uncertainty. Consequently, acquisition decision making can be seen as an inherently political process. While political behavior is a central concept in organizational theory, and despite its inevitability during acquisition decision making due to the contested nature of the pre-deal phase, there is a shortage of theory and evidence concerning the antecedents, consequences, and moderators of political behavior. To address these theoretical shortcomings, we develop and test a theoretical model of political behavior focusing on the TMT’s psychological context. We argue that while political behavior risks undermining acquisition performance, the degree of board involvement during the pre-deal phase can enable some TMTs to attenuate the damaging effects of political behavior. Further, we theorize two key antecedents variously fueling and constraining political behavior. We contend that while TMT cohesion reduces political behavior, cognitive diversity increases political behavior while suppressing the potential for TMT cohesion to prevent political behavior. We test our theoretical model using a field-based sample of 109 UK acquisitions, combining multiple informants with objective secondary data.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
British Journal of Management
Uncontrolled Keywords:
Research Output Funding/no_not_funded
Subjects:
?? political behaviorstrategic decision makingtop management teamupper echelonscohesioncognitive diversitymergers and acquisitions (m&a)pre-deal phaseno - not fundednobusiness, management and accounting(all)strategy and managementmanagement of technology and ??
ID Code:
218604
Deposited By:
ep_importer_pure
Deposited On:
24 Apr 2024 08:35
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
12 May 2024 01:33
URI:
https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/218604