“…Prior research on collaborative partnerships has investigated several important human side factors (Buono & Bowditch, 2003; Seo & Hill, 2005), such as emotions in M&A (Kusstatscher & Cooper, 2005; Reus, 2012); psychological contract to retain management team in M&A (Kiessling, Harvey, & Moeller, 2012); commitment and trust in strategic alliance (Cullen, Johnson, & Sakano, 2000); human resource management (HRM), socio-cultural integration, and knowledge transfer in M&A (Sarala, Junni, Cooper, & Tarba, 2016); and leaders’ identity work in M&A (Xing & Liu, 2016). However, the existing studies tend to lack an overarching theoretical framework to organize the multifaceted human side factors.…”