Speed In Acquisitions

The advantages of speed are often evoked by academics and practitioners as an essential condition during post-acquisition integration at the expense of considering the impact of earlier decisions on acquisition speed. The role speed plays in acquisitions is examined across the acquisition process from research organized around acquisition characteristics drawn from common research variables that display complexity with respect to acquisition speed. Existing research is incorporated with a process perspective of acquisitions to present trade-offs and considers the context before an acquisition completes on acquisition speed. A resulting framework also considers acquisition stakeholders that influence acquisition speed and organizational capabilities that facilitate acquisition speed. Observed trade-offs suggest that acquisition speed often requires spending more time before an acquisition and that associated decisions require managerial judgement. A framework for improving manager decisions during acquisitions is discussed and its implications for managers and research summarized.