The overlooked influence of personality, idiosyncrasy and eccentricity in corporate mergers and acquisitions: 120 years and six distinct waves. Issue 1 (9th January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Park, Kathleen Marshall; Gould, Anthony M.
• Is Part Of: Journal of management history. Volume 23:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 7
• Page End: 31
• Publication Date: 2017-01-09
• Subjects: Personality -- Mergers -- Acquisitions -- Idiosyncrasy; Management -- History -- Periodicals; Public administration -- History -- Periodicals; 658.009
• DOI: 10.1108/JMH-09-2016-0056
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-1348

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: Merger waves have typically been viewed through the prism of either corporate strategy or macro-economics. This paper aims to broaden debate about factors that cause – or are associated with – mergers/merger waves over a 120-year period. It ascribes "personalities" to six distinct waves and draws an overarching conclusion about how merger architects are viewed. Design/methodology/approach: Databases and interviews are used to piece together detail about CEOs associated with six distinct and recognized merger-waves during a 120-year focal period. The study establishes and defends, a priori, principles for interrogating data to get a sense of each wave-era's corporate personality/idiosyncrasy. For each era, two exemplar CEO-profiles are presented and – through inductive-reasoning – held out as representative. Findings: Distinct personalities are associated with six merger waves. Each wave is given a summary anthropomorphic description which conveys a sense that it may be viewed as the non-rationale expression of aggregate and historically distinct CEO behavior within a circumscribed timeframe. Research limitations/implications: The work's key limitation – explicitly acknowledged – is that it amassed data/evidence from disparate historical sources. However, the authors have developed and defended principles for addressing this concern. Practical implications: Improved investment analyses, in particular. The work prefigures formal establishment of a new variable-set impacting share-price prediction. Social implications: The paper offers a perspective on how psychological/personality-related variables impact management decision-making, creating something of a bridge between mostly non-overlapping research disciplines. Originality/value: The paper broadens debate about how and why merger waves occur. It removes the exclusive analysis of merger waves from the hands of economic historians and strategic management theorists.