Post-cross-border acquisitions: Implementing 'national culture-compatible' strategies to improve performance

From a survey of 400 companies engaged in cross-border acquisitions in Italy, Piero Morosini and Harbir Singh test several hypotheses which demonstrate that a 'national culture-compatible' post-acquisition strategy implemented by the acquiring company to interact and be coherent with the target company's national culture, can significantly improve cross-border post-acquisition performance. The authors focus on two national culture dimensions: uncertainty avoidance and individualism. Although the characteristics of the sample of companies used make the conclusions best suited to either Italian acquirers in the US or Western Europe or vice versa, the research does point out some unique aspects of generic interest for cross-border M&A activity. The results may also have important implications at the corporate culture levels.