Reconsidering the Role of HR in M&As: What Can Be Learned From Practice

Abstract

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) offer an important tool for rapid organizational growth, acquisition of new knowledge and capabilities, and entry into new markets at home or abroad. Although the importance of the involvement of the human resource management function has been widely extolled, evidence for the level of involvement remains limited. A significant gap in our understanding is created by the observation that not all M&As are motivated by the same objectives. We explore the significance of different forms of M&A for the scope and intensity of involvement of the human resource management function by examining a set of three cases of different M&As conducted by a single firm in Italy. The cases provide evidence that we should expect HR functional involvement to vary across the type of M&A. We offer a conceptual framework with testable propositions for scholars interested in further exploring these relationships. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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