Mergers and Acquisitions, Strategic Alliances, and their Impact on Human Resource Management

The global proliferation of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), along with strategic alliances (SA), among all firm types and sizes has placed great demands on strategic human resources management (SHRM) to formulate and to execute new initiatives to learn, build, and reinforce new sources of competitive advantage. M&A and SA enable organizations to gain access to new markets, product lines, technologies, and geographies. However, they differ along some vital dimensions, especially relating to the degree and nature of control over how distinctive resources are cultivated and utilized. M&A places great demands on SHRM to harmonize the often disparate national and organizational cultures of the newly combined entity. However, the transitional nature of SA, in particular, can potentially generate significant sources of tension among partners as they seek to learn from one another and compete simultaneously. Thus, SHRM needs to recognize this duality of cooperation and competition in SA and design processes that enhance organizational learning while limiting excessive dependence on the partner.

Business · Competition (biology) · Competitive advantage · Control (management) · Economics · Industrial organization · Knowledge management · Limiting · Management · Mergers and acquisitions · Product (mathematics) · Strategic human resource planning · Strategic planning · Business Strategy and Innovation · Computer Science · Engineering · Innovation and Knowledge Management · International Business and FDI · Marketing

• Competition for competence and interpartner learning within international strategic alliances

  Open Access•Gary Hamel•Strategic Management Journal•1991

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