The best way to start a year is to discover a new article by eM&Ai founding members Nicola Mirc, Audrey Rouzies and Duncan Angwin, with Kathrin Sele in Organization Studies, entitled: "From fit to fitting: A routine dynamics perspective on M&A synergy realization". The prior version of this article earned the best paper award at the EURAM annual conference.
The authors ask how the situative combining of routines shapes the process of synergy realization and what mechanisms influence fitting.
The core contribution of the research lies in exploring the micro-dynamics of synergy realization in mergers and acquisitions through a closer look at routine combinations. The authors show how synergies are realized by pointing at the importance of interweaving and converging between merging organizations and iterative back-and-forth between what was intended in the pre-deal and what emerged in the post-deal phases. Thus, practitioners should instead focus on the fitting process, how actual routines are seen, and how they are performed in acquisitions rather than exclusively on fit.
Please find the article here.