دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی بررسی یکپارچگی سیستم اطلاعات در ادغام و اکتساب - اشپرینگر 2018

Abstract

For three decades, research has investigated the role of information systems integration (ISI) in mergers and acquisitions (M&As). This research has improved our understanding of the M&A IS challenges and their solutions. However, consolidation and integration across the research is limited. To redress this omission, we review 70 articles published between 1989 and 2016. To do this, we adopt and extend the methodology developed by Lacity and her colleagues to review the empirical evidence in a fragmented IT literature. We code 53 dependent variables and 195 independent variables to identify the robust relationships among them and to model how ISI decisions, including the choice of IS integration methods, partially mediate the effects of the independent variables on ISI outcomes. Examining the relationships in this model, we identify five quasi-independent thematic domains on which we draw to develop an agenda for future research. Our contribution is the aggregation, organization and structuring of the empirical findings in the M&A ISI literature as a basis on which to develop a cumulative knowledge process.

Conclusions

To overcome the fragmentation of the research on ISI challenges and solutions in M&As, we document, organize and structure the empirical findings of 70 research articles that collectively cover three decades of research on the topic. The research question guiding the review is: How to aggregate, organize and structure what we know about M&A ISI decisions and their outcomes?

To answer this question, we examine the independent and dependent variables investigated in the literature and the relationships among them. We identify 195 independent variables, 53 dependent variables and 619 relationships among them. Distinguishing between categories of ISI decision and ISI outcomes as dependent variables, we identify the robust research findings reported in the literature and consolidate them in a model that presents the critical factors that consistently affect ISI decisions and ISI outcomes.

We then inspect the consolidated model to identify five themes in the explanations of ISI and its effects on performance: M&A context, relational fit, human behavior, preconditions and time pressure. For each theme, we identify the core constructs, discuss the presence, or absence, of theoretical frameworks and give an illustrative example of practice. Each of the themes highlights complementary aspects of ISI dynamics. We do not claim that these five themes are the only ones relevant for ISI research. Rather, they represent points of convergence that allow us both to structure the relationships among the robust findings and to identify critical gaps in this fragmented research domain.