Serendipitous Value Creation in Mergers and Acquisitions of Entrepreneurially-Oriented Firms: The Moderating Role of Political Skill

摘要

This article identifies the role that political skill plays in value creation with acquired top management teams in mergers and acquisitions of entrepreneurially-oriented firms, specifically serendipitous value creation. Under certain circumstances, the authors suggest that political skill possessed by top managers will moderate the relationship between merger and acquisition activity and resulting serendipitous value creation. The authors construct a conceptual framework in which it is suggested that newly combined organizations that have top managers who possess a high degree of political skill will have enhanced opportunities for serendipitous value creation. This mechanism is a result of better relations at the newly combined organization and successful attenuation of the negative effects that mergers and acquisitions can often have on the employees of the acquired firm. The authors formulate several propositions and discuss future research avenues associated with this conceptual framework.