CONTROL MECHANISMS IN CROSS-BORDER ACQUISITIONS - AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON

This paper analyzes the influence of national culture on the integrati on mechanisms exercised in international acquisitions. The study of 75 international acquisitions in Europe (France and the United Kingdom) shows that firms are influenced by their national administrative herit age when they acquire companies abroad. For instance, the French exerc ise higher formal control of the strategy and the operations, and lowe r informal control through teamwork than the Americans when they buy f irms in the United Kingdom. The Americans exercise higher formal contr ol through procedures than the British when they buy firms in France. As some of these aspects of control were found to be linked with the a ttitudinal and/or economic performance of the acquired company, we arg ue that being conscious of the influence of a national administrative heritage should help anticipate cultural problems in the integration p rocess following international acquisitions.