Mergers and acquisitions: Why we will not see the forest if we focus on the trees

This thesis is an investigation of an alternative paradigm and methodology for the study of mergers and acquisitions (m&a). The current thesis proposes the paradigm of functional perspectivism to capture the complexity of m&a. An extension of the functional perspectivist paradigm is then developed to include a representation of distal level environmental conditions influencing the organization. Lewin's (1951) force field analysis is proposed as a measurement system to assess distal environmental conditions in an m a situation. In study 1, a focus group is conducted to extract situations from a merger case that correspond to the definitions of distal environmental conditions. In study 2, a survey is conducted to determine whether participants can accurately apply the definitions to the situations from study 1. Results revealed that participants were able to apply the definitions with a high level of consistency. The results are discussed with respect to their theoretical implications.