REDUCING CAUSAL AMBIGUITY IN ACQUISITION INTEGRATION: INTERMEDIATE GOALS AS MEDIATORS OF INTEGRATION DECISIONS AND ACQUISITION PERFORMANCE.
研究提出中间目标能降低整合决策与绩效间的因果模糊性，基于129个横向收购样本发现内部重组和市场扩张这两个中间目标完全中介了四项整合决策对收购绩效的影响。
Integration is a difficult process, but one that is vital to acquisition performance. One reason acquirers encounter difficulties is that the integration process exhibits high levels of intrafirm linkage ambiguity – a lack of clarity of the causal link between integration decisions and their performance outcomes. We introduce the construct of intermediate goals as a mechanism that reduces intrafirm linkage ambiguity. Our structural model results, based on a sample of 129 horizontal acquisitions, indicate that the achievement of two intermediate goals (internal reorganization and market expansion) fully mediates the relationships between four integration decisions and acquisition performance.