Research on Culture and International Acquisition Performance: A Critical Evaluation and New Directions

This article critically reviews and synthesizes the current state of the literature on culture and international acquisition performance, and sketches out new directions for research that are promising to advance knowledge in the field. The literature on acquisition performance is categorized and discussed along three streams of research: the contingency literature, process-oriented research, and the cultural stream. Particular emphasis is placed in the latter stream to take account of the vast amount of work on this topic. In so doing, this article relates the cultural stream to both the contingency literature and process-related research to gain a more inclusive understanding of culture’s consequences for international acquisition performance. The article concludes by offering a research agenda to stimulate new insights and novel work on the variables that determine the success of international acquisitions.