Business and Management Practices in Cross-Culture Mergers and Acquisitions - a Case Study of UK and Middle East

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this chance for thanking my research facilitator, friends & family for support they provided & their belief in me as well as guidance they provided without which I would have never been able to do this research.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this thesis/dissertation stand for my individual work without any aid, & this thesis/dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It is also representing my very own views & not essentially which are associated with university.

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ABSTRACT

During the past several decades, research in organisational science has focused on the study of the individual employee, devoid of a general cultural context; a focus which although important in its own right, has contributed to the gap in our understanding of cultural and national differences in people's values and beliefs and how these differences may affect work behaviour and organisational successes or failures. To date, the overwhelming majority of published studies on the role of culture and M&A performance have emanated from the Middle East and the U.K. Furthermore, although some of this research has begun to incorporate national dimensions of culture in the operationalization of culture clash, they have nonetheless almost exclusively focused on investigations of domestic M&A and the role of organisational culture similarity/dissimilarity in predicting their success. This research follows the method of both primary and secondary data collection. The data will be collected from variety of sources like internet publications, journals, books, articles and research participants, who would be the managers and employees of the organisations that have been merged in UK and Middle East. The existing literature on culture clash and M&A performance is based on observations made by practitioners and consultants (i.e., case studies), and has therefore been extensively criticized for having little or no theoretical or empirical support. Case studies do contribute valuable in-depth data on culture compatibility/incompatibility and how this improves or impedes the M&A integration process. They have also proven an invaluable tool to practitioners regarding interventions that can be undertaken to minimize the effects of culture clash on M&A performance.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Aims and Objectives4

Research Questions4

Significance4

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW8

Research on Culture Fit and Merger and Acquisition Performance8

Organisational Culture Findings8

National versus Organisational Culture14

CHAPTER 03: METHODOLOGY17

Research Design17

Literature Search18

Interviews18

Pitfalls and Problems18

CHAPTER 04: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS19

National Culture Findings19

Interview Analysis26

National and Organisational Culture Findings29

CHAPTER 05: CONCLUSION32

Culture Compatibility and Financial Performance of Related Cross-Border M&A32

Problems with Current Research34

Future Research39

REFERENCES40

APPENDICES52

Interview Questions52

Transcribed Interviews54

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

Background

During the past several decades, research in organisational science has focused on the study of the individual employee, devoid of a general cultural context; a focus which although important in its own right, has contributed to the gap in our understanding of cultural and national differences in people's values and beliefs and how these differences may affect work behaviour and organisational successes or ...