Hostile takeovers, culture, and firm performance: a sensemaking and sensegiving perspective

Abstract

Purpose Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are common in today's corporate world, yet nearly half of them fail. Among such failed M&As, hostile takeovers cover a large proportion. The purpose of this paper is to understand the puzzling evidence of a successful hostile takeover amid multiple red flags, including cultural clash. Towards that end, this study explores the case of a recent successful takeover of Mindtree Ltd. by Larsen and Toubro Ltd. and proposes the role of sensemaking and sensegiving and their interaction within the framework of context, employees and leadership. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a secondary data-based case methodology to develop arguments and frameworks. The case study is built on multiple data sources, including newspaper articles, published reports, company data and company reports. This paper also uses public interviews given by the company heads during the process of the takeover. This paper also uses the Corley and Gioia method of qualitative data analysis using thematic coding. Findings This paper reports a framework based on a real-world case study. This paper explains that a successful alignment of sensemaking and sensegiving between the acquired firm's employees and new leadership could be an ingredient in managing a hostile takeover. The analysis also revealed eight aggregate dimensions of the data structure based on thematic coding analysis. Research limitations/implications The proposed model can be further tested using empirical methods. This paper is limited in its access and analysis of only secondary data. Practical implications This paper provides novel implications in terms of sensemaking and sensegiving interaction for managers and executives. Originality/value This paper is the first to bring the role of sensemaking and sensegiving into the context of hostile takeovers. This paper would provide a new impetus from an interpretive perspective to research hostile takeovers and give novel insights for managers and executives.