Stakeholder orientation and experiential learning
evidence from corporate acquisitions
Additional information
Authors
Bettinazzi E.,
Zollo M.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2022
Language
English
Abstract
This article examines how stakeholder orientation influences managers’ ability to
learn from prior experience in corporate acquisitions. We argue that increased attention to primary stakeholders’ signals affects both positively and negatively managers’ capacity to analyze causal mechanisms in past acquisitions, draw inferences from them, and apply these inferences to subsequent acquisitions. On the one hand, attention to stakeholders’ inputs may enhance managers’ ability to interpret prior experience by giving voice to unnoticed details of past acquisitions. On the other hand, it may divert managers’ attention away from inferential mechanisms, reinforce confidence in existing practices, and limit managers’ ability to learn from acquisitions experience. We combine these theoretical effects to propose an inverted U-shaped influence of stakeholder orientation on the relationship between acquisition experience and focal acquisition
performance. We also propose that experience homogeneity and proximity to the knowledge domain of the focal firm act as boundary conditions on this influence. Analyses of a sample of 4619 corporate acquisitions by 504 US firms support our predictions.
Keywords
Experiential learning, M&A, Organizational learning, Stakeholder orientation, Stakeholder theory
Journal
Journal of Management Studies
Volume
59
Number ( Month )
6
Pages (or article number)
1422-1459
Diffusion
License
CC BY-NC-ND
Visibility
Public
Status open access
Hybrid
