Boundary Management of Organizations

The hypothesis here is that one of the reasons for this dramatic failure rate of Mergers, Acquisitions, and Cooperations can be found in the specific concept of "integration" and its misunderstanding. Based especially on the sociological "theory of social systems", influenced chiefly by Niklas Luhmann (e.g. 1964; 1984; 1997; 2000), and the "form calculus" of George Spencer Brown (1969), we suggest a perspective of boundary management as an approach of "integration by differentiation". Decisions for intervention after a merger or an acquisition (such as speed of integration, depth of integration, level of integration, form of restructuring and change management, cultural and identity management, etc.) must be freshly examined against the background of this specific understanding of boundary management. The comparative empirical approach deals with two samples: German Mega-Mergers and High-Tech-Acquisitions in the Silicon Valley. The goal is to describe and explain selected patterns regarding the boundary management of deals which succeeded or failed in terms of outperformance in specific success measures. Basis for the analysis of these patterns is the so-called "7 C-Modell" (coordination, culture, communication, customer & co-producer, competence & knowledge management, core staff & career management, control and post merger audit (Jansen 1999; 2001; 2004). Two studies were conducted: a. Comprehensive qualitative analysis of 103 Mega-Mergers closed between 1994 und 1998 with at least one German Enterprise involved (based on questionnaire). b. Qualitative analysis of five frequent acquirers in the High Tech-Industry located in the Silicon Valley (semi-structured interviews).

Projektbeginn: 01.03.2003
Projektende: 01.01.2011

Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Stephan A. Jansen

Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen

Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Stephan A. Jansen

• eigenfinanziertes Forschungsprojekt

• Jansen, Stephan A.: Management von Unternehmenszusammenschlüssen – Theorien, Thesen, Tests und Tools, Stuttgart, Klett-Cotta, 2004.