Impact of Information Technology Infrastructure Flexibility on Mergers and Acquisitions

Jose Benitez (1) , Gautam Ray , Jörg Henseler (2)

1 ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business
2 ULISBOA - Universidade de Lisboa = University of Lisbon

Although mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are a common strategy to reduce costs and pursue growth, the variance in returns from M&A is very high. This research examines how information technology (IT) infrastructure flexibility affects M&A. We use a combination of secondary as well as matched-pair survey data from 100 mid-size firms in Spain to investigate this relationship. The empirical analysis suggests that IT infrastructure flexibility affects M&A through two key pathways: a flexible IT infrastructure facilitates the development of business flexibility that provides the responsiveness to seize M&A opportunities and make acquisitions, and a flexible IT infrastructure facilitates the development of post-M&A IT integration capability that provides the control to integrate the IT and business resources of the acquired firm and realize the economic benefits from M&A.

Mots clés: Dynamic capability; IT infrastructure flexibility; business flexibility; post-M&A IT integration capability; M&A activities; post-M&A performance; business value of IT; endogeneity

Domaines: Gestion et management; Informatique [cs]

Jose Benitez, Gautam Ray, Jörg Henseler. Impact of Information Technology Infrastructure Flexibility on Mergers and Acquisitions. MIS Quarterly, 2018, 42 (1), pp.25-43. ⟨10.25300/MISQ/2018/13245⟩. ⟨hal-01998000⟩