Journal Articles (Peer-Reviewed)
(2022): Experiential Learing, M&A Performance, and Post-Acquisition Integration Strategy: A Meta-Analysis
, Long Range Planning, 55 (6): 1-25.
Abstract: While research on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) capabilities is accelerating, our understanding of their antecedents and performance implications still remains rather fragmented. Previous research has outlined the importance of learning for building M&A capabilities, but no work has attempted to summarize previous empirical findings regarding different learning mechanisms and their impacts on M&A performance. Mainly drawing upon organizational learning theory and the dynamic capabilities perspective, this study consolidates research on the relationship between different learning mechanisms, post-acquisition integration strategies, and M&A performance. Using meta-analytical techniques, our study shows that the capability-building mechanism relying on deliberate investments in learning tends to be more effective than the capability mechanism based on mere experience accumulation. In addition, our findings indicate that a higher degree of integration is associated with enhanced M&A performance among firms with more developed experiential learning, highlighting the need to explore mediating effects of integration strategy choices on the experiential learning-performance relationship.
(2021): Clarifying the boundary conditions of value creation within dynamic capabilities framework: a grafting approach, Review of Managerial Science, 15: 1797-1820.
Abstract: This study extends dynamic capabilities research by examining the underlying and fundamental concepts of capabilities, resource allocation, fungibility, and environmental change with respect to value creation and appropriation (VCA). Scholars generally assume that VCA depends on the amount of resources allocated to generate future capabilities. We diverge from this ability-performance tautology and instead ground dynamic capabilities in a resource allocation framework. By introducing two boundary conditions, we suggest that environmental change and fungibility between current and dynamic capabilities determine whether resource allocation leads to VCA. We believe that our findings not only represent a fruitful path for future research by strategy and organization scholars, but also provide an important contribution to our knowledge of managing resources in dynamic environments to create future capabilities.
(2021): Experiential learning for Chinese companies to complete cross-border acquisitions: the case of Chinese acquirers, International Journal of Emerging Markets, 16 (4): 647-695.
Abstract: Purpose In a contribution to the emerging research examining Chinese cross-border acquisitions (CBAs), the authors observe experiential learning applications for enhancing M&A completions. By emphasizing knowledge transfer, the authors reveal how target-to-target industry similarity and bidder-to-target cultural distance affect learning outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Using a binary logistic regression model, the authors examine a sample of CBA attempts announced by Chinese companies from January 2002 to December 2012 to identify the variables that affect the completion of CBAs. Findings The authors find that foreign acquisition experience but not domestic acquisition experience enhances subsequent acquisition attempts, especially when prior and focal target companies share the dominant industrial logic. Learning transfer is negatively affected when target countries are more culturally distant from China, but learning benefits appear to increase under strong bidder-to-target cultural distance. Originality/value By investigating learning in the precompletion stage in Chinese outward CBAs, the authors complement research that uses postacquisition performance to assess learning. The authors’ more fine-grained characterization reveals that acquisition experience increases knowledge transfer through experiential learning. Furthermore, the authors show that dominant industrial logic and cultural distance are underexplored contextual conditions, although they interact with foreign and domestic experience to affect the completion of CBAs.
(2016): Team OCB, leader charisma, and organizational change: A multilevel study, The Leadership Quarterly, 27 (6): 883-895.
Abstract: This study examines individual-level origins of team organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). Building on the literature on trust and social exchange theory, we hypothesize that individual-level leader charisma is indirectly related to team OCB through individual-level trust in leader. Additionally, we propose that the positive relationship between leader charisma and trust in leader is stronger under conditions of high organizational change. Based on data from 142 team members and 33 leaders, results reveal an indirect bottom-up relationship between individual-level leader charisma and team OCB through trust in leader. High change impact at the team- but not at the individual-level facilitates the positive relationship of leader charisma with trust in leader. The findings show how individual-level phenomenon can contribute to the emergence of team-level OCB.
(2015): New insights on CEO charisma attribution in companies of different sizes and ownership structure: the role of prior company performance, Journal of Business Economics, 85 (7): 793-815.
Abstract: We extend theories on charismatic leadership by investigating the influence of prior company performance on subordinates’ attributions of chief executive officer (CEO) charisma within companies of different sizes and ownership structure. First, we use an experimental design to examine the effects of prior company performance on attributions of CEO charisma. Second, in a field study with 69 companies we replicate the experimental finding and show that this relationship is moderated by the size of the company such that the relationship between prior company performance and attributions of CEO charisma is significant only in large companies. We find no evidence, however, that the ownership structure of a company could strengthen or weaken this relationship.
(2015): Knowledge as a key in the relationship between high-performance work systems and workforce productivity, Journal of Business Research, 68 (5): 1035-1044.
Abstract: Abstract Drawing on the knowledge-based view of the firm, we develop and test a theoretical model linking high-performance work systems (HPWS) and workforce productivity via employee exchange and combination of knowledge. A test of our model in a sample of junior enterprises in Germany supports the proposal that knowledge exchange and combination plays a mediating role. However, knowledge-management effectiveness interacts. That is, knowledge exchange and combination mediates the relationship between 5HPWS6 and workforce productivity only when knowledge-management is effective at medium and high levels, but not at low levels.
(2015): The dynamic capabilities perspective: from fragments to meta-theory, Management Research Review, 38 (7): 662-684.
Abstract: This paper aims to show how researchers can overcome problems of fragmentation and eclecticism in an important strategy paradigm, namely, the Dynamic Capabilities (DC) perspective. First, the explanandum of the theory of DC, conceptualized as a theory of strategic change, is generates. Second, four main constituent theoretical perspectives of DC were selected and their explanans on the explanandum of a theory of strategic change was mapped. Third, the explanans of a theory of strategic change was parsed out to derive the critical fragmentation sources as illustrated by the classical papers in DC. First, consistent explanans of a theory of strategic change are integrated to build a meta-theory of strategic change. Second, testable propositions based on the meta-theory, in the context of industry convergence, a context which requires the development of dynamic capabilities in an uncertain and changing environmental context are developed. By developing a meta-theory of strategic change, researchers are provided with the tools to overcome the confusion of fragmentation and eclecticism, specifically in the field of strategy research.
(2014): Expanding Insights on the Diversity Climate–Performance Link: The Role of Workgroup Discrimination and Group Size, Human Resource Management, 53 (3): 379-402.
Abstract: The present study extends knowledge of the performance consequences of workgroup diversity climate. Building upon Kopelman, Brief, and Guzzo’s () climate model of productivity, we introduce workgroup discrimination as a behavioral mediator that explains the positive effects of diversity climate on workgroup performance. In addition, we investigate group size as a moderator upon which this mediated relationship depends. We test these moderated-mediated propositions using a split-sample design and data from 248 military workgroups comprising 8,707 respondents. Findings from structural equation modeling reveal that diversity climate is consistently positively related to workgroup performance and that this relationship is mediated by discrimination. Results yield a pattern of moderated mediation, in that the indirect relationship between workgroup diversity climate (through perceptions of workgroup discrimination) and group performance was more pronounced in larger than in smaller workgroups. These results illustrate that discrimination and group size represent key factors in determining how a diversity climate is associated with group performance and, thus, have significant implications for research and practice. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
(2014): Das "Complex Leadership Assessment" als Ausgangspunkt erfolgreicher Führungskräfteentwicklung: Theorie, Konzeption, Validierung und Anwendungsbereiche, Schmalenbachs Zeitschrift für betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung : Zfbf, 66 (8): 658-693.
Abstract: Das „Complex Leadership Assessment“ (CLA) ist ein multidimensionales Instrument zur Erfassung von Führungskompetenzen. Der vorliegende Beitrag hat das Ziel, das theoretische Modell und das dazugehörige Assessment-Tool des CLA ausführlich vorzustellen und seine Anwendung als 360-Grad-Feedback-Instrument zu diskutieren. Im Hinblick auf eine effiziente und zeitökonomische Sammlung und Auswertung der Daten wurde dieses als Online-Instrument konzipiert und zudem als ein Microsoft Excel-basiertes Auswertungstool entwickelt. Der Inhalt des Auswertungsberichts und seine Rolle als Ausgangspunkt für die Wahl und Ableitung von individuell angepassten Führungskräfteentwicklungsmaßnahmen werden erläutert und diskutiert. Anschließend werden die Ergebnisse einer ersten Untersuchung zur Validität des Modells und zu den psychometrischen Eigenschaften des Assessment-Tools präsentiert.
(2013): Charisma and organizational change: A multilevel study of perceived charisma, commitment to change, and team performance, The Leadership Quarterly, 24 (2): 378-389.
Abstract: Abstract What makes people perceive a leader as charismatic, and how do team leaders obtain performance outcomes from their followers? We examine leaders in times of organizational change and investigate the mechanisms through which leaders’ change-promoting behaviors are associated with team performance. In a multilevel mediation model, we propose that the indirect relationship between change-promoting behaviors and team performance is sequentially transmitted through followers’ perceptions of charisma and followers’ commitment to change. A study of 33 leaders and 142 followers provides empirical support for the model, using multilevel structural equation modeling to analyze top-down relationships between leaders and followers and bottom-up relationships between followers and team outcomes. Results suggest that team leaders are perceived as more charismatic when they engage in change-promoting behaviors. These behaviors facilitate team performance through individual followers’ perceived charisma and commitment to change.
(2010): Shedding light on followers’ innovation implementation behavior: The role of transformational leadership, commitment to change, and climate for initiative, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25 (4): 408-429.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of how transformational leadership relates to followers' innovation implementation behavior, the psychological mechanisms of this relationship, and the role of individual perceptions of climate for initiative. Perceptual data were collected from 198 employees in lower and middle management positions of a multinational automotive corporation. Relationships were tested using hierarchical regression analysis. Results demonstrate that transformational leadership was strongly related to followers' innovation implementation behavior and that the nature of this relationship was moderated by followers' levels of perceived climate for initiative. Additionally, commitment to change fully mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' innovation implementation behavior. The paper is based on a cross‐sectional design. A causal interpretation requires studies with experimental or longitudinal designs. Companies should invest in transformational leadership training and in the selection of supervisors with this leadership style before initiating the implementation of innovations. Enhancing contextual factors, such as a perceived climate for initiative, should be promoted by integrating them into organizations' reward systems. The paper is one of the first to investigate the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' innovation implementation behavior. It specifies the organizational contexts under which transformational leadership is most likely related to innovation implementation behavior, and those in which such a relationship is unlikely to occur.
(2009): Affective Commitment to Change and Innovation Implementation Behavior: The Role of Charismatic Leadership and Employees’ Trust in Top Management, Journal of Change Management, 9 (4): 399-417.
Abstract: This questionnaire-based study investigated the relationship between two aspects of leadership (charismatic leadership and trust in top management) and followers’ innovation implementation behavior. Findings from 194 employees working in R&D teams of a multinational automotive company indicated that charismatic leadership and trust in top management were both positively related to innovation implementation behavior, controlling for followers’ individual differences, management level, and department affiliation. The findings demonstrate that both relationships were mediated by followers’ affective commitment to change. Results implicate the need to more closely bond the concepts of affective commitment to change and innovation implementation behavior and consider their connection in future investigations.
Book Chapters
: Chapter 8 Retention Strategies in M&A Processes – An Exploratory Case Study on Turnover During Mergers and Acquisitions in the German Software Industry, in: Finkelstein, Sydney and Cary L. Cooper (ed.): Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions (Volume 17), Emerald Publishing Limited: New York, 165-184.
Abstract: Abstract Firms pursue merger and acquisitions in order to gain valuable resources from acquired companies, including employee-held know-how and culture. This study aims to identify reasons employees choose to stay or leave in reaction to acquisitions. Seventeen employees involved in two major acquisitions in the software industry were interviewed for this qualitative study that goes beyond classical turnover variables to indicate that turnover or retention decisions depend on highly critical acquisition-specific variables such as leadership behavior, contact with new colleagues, or appreciation from the acquirer. We develop an acquisition-specific turnover model as a basis for further research on acquisition-specific turnover and to provide guidelines for practitioners dealing with retention and turnover during acquisitions.
: Transferring organizational re- sources and capabilities in cross border mergers & acquisitions: The case of the European energy sector
, in: Perrault, Etienne (ed.): Mergers and acquisitions: Practices, performance and perspectives, Nova Science Publishers, Inc.: Hauppauge, New York, 133-160.
: Führungskräfteentwicklung im 21. Jahrhundert – Wo stehen wir und wo müssen (oder wollen) wir hin?, in: Grote, Sven (ed.): Die Zukunft der Führung, Springer Verlag: Berlin, 365-389.
: Institutionale Komponente „Gesundheitsmanagement“ im BiG-Modell, in: Sonntag, Karlheinz, Ralf Stegmaier and Ursula Spellenberg (ed.): Arbeit, Gesundheit, Erfolg: Betriebliches Gesundheitsmanagement auf dem Prüfstand: das Projekt BiG, Asanger: Kröning, 39-52.
: Studien zum Gesundheitsindex, zur Mitarbeiterleistung und zum ökonomischen Nutzen, in: Sonntag, Karlheinz, Ralf Stegmaier and Ursula Spellenberg (ed.): Arbeit, Gesundheit, Erfolg: Betriebliches Gesundheitsmanagement auf dem Prüfstand: das Projekt BiG, Asanger: Kröning, 107-126.
: Benchmarking als Methode zum Erfahrungsaustausch und Transfer von Best-Practice Lösungen, in: Sonntag, Karlheinz, Ralf Stegmaier and Ursula Spellenberg (ed.): Arbeit, Gesundheit, Erfolg: Betriebliches Gesundheitsmanagement auf dem Prüfstand: das Projekt BiG, Asanger: Kröning, 147-156.
: Benchmarking in einem Gesundheitsnetzwerk, in: Henning, Klaus and Christiane Michulitz (ed.): Unternehmenskybernetik 2020 - Betriebswirtschaftliche und technische Aspekte von Geschäftsprozessen; wissenschaftliche Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialkybernetik und des Instituts für Unternehmenskybernetik am 15. und 16. Mai 2007 in Aachen25, , 181-188.
: Bestimmung des ökonomischen Nutzens eines ganzheitlichen Gesundheitsmanagements, in: Badura, Bernhard, Helmut Schröder and Christian Vetter (ed.): Fehlzeiten-Report 2008, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 101-110.
Abstract: Betriebliches Gesundheitsmanagement geht heute weit über den klassischen Arbeits- und Gesundheitsschutz hinaus und bezieht vermehrt psychologische Themen ein. Gleichzeitig wird zunehmend die Frage nach dem betriebswirtschaftlichen Nutzen von Investitionen in das Gesundheitsmanagement gestellt. Im Beitrag werden verschiedene Möglichkeiten genannt, den Nutzen des betrieblichen Gesundheitsmanagements zu operationalisieren. Das BiG- Projekt, auf das genauer eingegangen wird, hat die Evaluation eines ganzheitlichen Gesundheitsmanagements zum Ziel. Hierzu wird ein Gesundheitsindex gebildet und es werden Kennzahlen herangezogen, die über die üblicherweise verwendeten Fehlzeiten und Unfallzahlen hinausgehen.