Enablers of postacquisition joint knowledge creation: evidence from joint patenting in high-tech mergers and acquisitions

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to investigate three organizational-level factors (geographical proximity, technological similarity and organizational identity integration) that influence the likelihood of post-mergers and acquisition (M&A) joint knowledge creation between inventors from the target and acquiring firms.Design/methodology/approachAnalyzing post-M&A joint patent filing activities from 136 M&A deals in high-tech industries, the authors conduct a zero-inflated negative binomial regression analysis to estimate the likelihood of joint knowledge creation.FindingsThe results indicate that close geographical proximity and technological similarity are positively associated, whereas the integration of organizational identity is negatively associated with post-M&A joint knowledge creation.Practical implicationsManagers searching for an ideal acquisition target firm for joint production of new technologies or products should consider factors such as location, prior knowledge base and post-acquisition integration strategies.Originality/valueThe proposed model is a comprehensive framework that considers physical, cognitive and identity dimensions as antecedents of post-M&A joint knowledge creation. This study analyzes joint patenting activities to measure post-M&A joint knowledge creation between target and acquiring firm inventors.