Chapter 9 Varieties of Value in Mergers and Acquisitions: Time for a New Research Agenda

Value is one of the most central concepts in mergers and acquisitions (M&As); however, a broad and systematic examination of value’s various connotations and respective uses is yet to be developed. The chapter canvasses wider theory on value and illustrates how its varieties across economics and ethics share common roots through which they supplement each other. It reviews how these forms of value have been used in research on M&As. Studies in strategic management have predominantly used ‘value’ to address shareholder value or have left it undefined by assuming a common understanding of value creation. Research in organisational behaviour and human resources has addressed ‘values’, often through culture, but the focus is largely with the utility of values to value. The authors outline an agenda for future research on value(s) in M&As, whereby it is theorised in integrative, relational, dynamic and pluralistic terms. Studies need to: (i) clearly articulate value(s): for whom? how? and to what effect?; (ii) examine value relations in both social and economic terms, and address the value(s) that are good for a range of internal and external stakeholders; (iii) recognise that at the heart of both value and values are processes and practices of evaluation whereby value(s) are regenerated through multiple contextual positions and contingent relationships, and (iv) explicate the contestation that shapes which values ought to be valued and articulate the ethics inherent in the varieties and values of value and their consequences for a range of M&A constituents.