Momentum and serendipity: how acquired leaders create value in the integration of technology firms
研究科技企业并购中，被收购方管理者如何通过平衡整合与自主，同时实现预期价值和意外价值，并推动探索与利用两种变革。
Abstract Merger and acquisition activity is a critical means by which technology firms obtain the resources needed to compete in global markets. Effective implementation is essential to making these acquisitions successful, yet prior research on the implementation process has yielded paradoxical findings. I argue that a closer examination of the role of the acquired managers helps to resolve the implementation dilemmas found in prior research, which has focused on the role of the acquiring firm. I use grounded theory‐building techniques to examine the integration of eight technology acquisitions, and find that acquired managers play a key role in achieving two types of value: expected and serendipitous. In promoting the realization of these two types of value, acquired leaders maintain the advantages of both integration and autonomy. Moreover, these leaders enable their organizations to simultaneously experience two often‐conflicting forms of change: exploration and exploitation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.