Donald Bergh

Followers

Following

Co-authors

Public Views

Interests

Uploads

Papers by Donald Bergh

Another look at the managerial entrenchment hypothesis of acquisitions: A replication of Humphery-Jenner (2014)

Journal of Management Scientific Reports, Jan 3, 2024

After the startup: A collection to spur research about entrepreneurial growth

Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Aug 22, 2023

Introduction

Research Methodology in Strategy and Management, Jul 13, 2007

Market Response to Divestiture Announcements: A Screening Theory Perspective

Capital market investors have limited information about the motives, exchange terms, and expected... more Capital market investors have limited information about the motives, exchange terms, and expected outcomes of corporate divestitures. Thus, when a firm announces a divestiture, capital markets may have difficulty distinguishing divestitures that are likely to be beneficial and investment worthy from those that signify hidden problems. Drawing on screening theory, we argue that one way investors might overcome their information disadvantages is to use screens to identify investment-worthy divesting firms. We test this logic using one such screen: change in blockholding equity stakes prior to a divestiture announcement. Data from 858 European Union divestitures occurring in 13 Western European Countries show that investors’ reaction to a divestiture announcement is positively associated with pre-divestiture changes in blockholdings in the divesting firm. Furthermore, investors’ valuations were more positive in higher performing divesting firms that had increases in blockholding equity stakes before the divestiture than those that had reductions in these owners’ equity stakes. The findings extend our understanding of how outsiders, such as investors, navigate incomplete information about divestitures. We describe how our study offers a range of implications for divestiture research.

Methods for Identifying ""Red Flags"" in Empirical Findings

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2016

High profile article retractions, evidence of mistaken findings, and reports of possible academic... more

When Firms Benefit from Previous Divestitures: An Agency Theoretic View

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2014

Firms having more experience with a particular action are believed to learn routines and processe... more Firms having more experience with a particular action are believed to learn routines and processes that can be used to improve subsequent decision making that in turn leads to higher financial performance. We reconsider this truism by arguing that agency conditions moderate when divestiture experience leads to post-divestiture financial benefits. We argue that when owners hold higher levels of ownership, the emphasis on realizing their shorter-term financial interests will redirect managerial attention from internal resources, reduce the benefits associated with previous divestiture learning and lead to lower post-divestiture financial performance. We also argue that when divested units are larger, managers’ face greater employment risks, are more likely to use knowledge gained from prior divestitures, and make more informed decisions that lead to higher performance. Data from divesting firms located in the EU and US support the ownership argument but show that divestiture size has opposing effects across...

Resolutions to the Information Disclosure Dilemma: Evidence from Divested Spin-Offs

Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2020

Building theoretical bridges

Emerald eBooks, 2012

This book series' mission is to provide a forum for critique, commentary and discussion about... more This book series' mission is to provide a forum for critique, commentary and discussion about key methodology issues in the strategic management field. Strategic management relies on an array of complex methods drawn from various allied disciplines to examine how managers attempt to lead their firms toward success. The eighth volume of the series is built around the theme of "West Meets East: Building Theoretical Bridges". Within this overarching theme, this volume consists of two parts. The first is "Methods for Discovery and Theory Building" and the second is "Western Theories and Concepts in the Eastern Context". While the contributors of this volume are from an array of country backgrounds including Australia, China, Denmark, Germany, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, the UK and the USA, the majority of the chapters refer to Asia, especially China, as the powerhouse of the global economic growth. We hope that the methodological insights offered in this volume will help build the theoretical bridges between the West and the East.

Organizational Autonomy: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

Journal of Management, Sep 19, 2022

Organizational autonomy is a fundamental organizational design choice that holds a central positi... more Organizational autonomy is a fundamental organizational design choice that holds a central position in management theories and practice. To date, this construct has suffered from definitional vagueness and conceptual fragmentation in its academic study across different management subfields. Drawing from a review of 87 articles appearing in top academic management journals, we had four objectives. We sought to establish clarity and consensus on the construct of organizational autonomy, to review the fragmented fields of studies on its determinants and outcomes, to identify unresolved or neglected debates, and to provide an organizing template for guiding future research. In a first section, we discuss the development of the organizational autonomy construct and review its diverse definitions, primary determinants, and outcomes. In a second section, we provide a set of recommendations spanning methodological directions and conceptual opportunities on the overlooked dynamics of organizational autonomy. Overall, our review provides a unified framework and direction for enhancing the understanding of one of the management field’s fundamental concepts.

Statistical and Methodological Myths and Urban Legends in Strategic Management Research: The Case of Moderation Analysis

European Management Review, Aug 20, 2018

Download

Tests for Identifying “Red Flags” in Empirical Findings: Demonstration and Recommendations for Authors, Reviewers, and Editors

Academy of Management Learning and Education, Mar 1, 2017

High profile article retractions, survey results indicating falsification of data, and evidence o... more High profile article retractions, survey results indicating falsification of data, and evidence of mistaken findings raise concerns that problematic empirical research has found its way into the management field's literatures. To help safeguard the field against such vagaries, the authors describe three tests that can be applied to most empirical articles to assess the accuracy of the reported findings. They also demonstrate how the tests uncover reporting anomalies using a retracted article as an example. The results identify numerous irregularities which would have raised "red flags" had the tests been applied to the article while it was under review. The authors offer several recommendations to help protect the trustworthiness of management research.

Download

Restructuring through spin-off or sell-off: transforming information asymmetries into financial gain

Strategic Management Journal, 2007

The authors examine how managers select between corporate restructuring implementation alternativ... more The authors examine how managers select between corporate restructuring implementation alternatives and how those decisions influence the profitability of the restructuring event. They argue that managers and owners have information asymmetries with respect to the assets in the restructuring and the restructured firms' diversification strategy, and that managers select between two popular implementation alternatives, spin-offs and sell-offs, to convert knowledge differences into financial gain. When the restructured assets reside in primary and related business lines or the firm has low and related diversification among its business lines, the restructuring is difficult for observers to assess and understand. Spin-offs most effectively and profitably reduce information asymmetries by transferring assets to the capital market and increasing the efficiency and transparency of the restructuring firm. Conversely, when the restructured assets reside in secondary and unrelated business lines or the firm has high diversification, sell-offs best mitigate asymmetries by using market forces to reallocate assets to their most productive uses while improving the strategy and performance of the restructuring firm. Tests of a sample of 204 restructuring events support the hypotheses. Overall, the findings suggest that the influence of corporate restructuring on financial performance is determined in part through how the restructuring is implemented.

Download

Executive retention and acquisition outcomes: A test of opposing views on the influence of organizational tenure

Journal of Management, Oct 1, 2001

This study considers the influence of retained acquired company top executives on the eventual ou... more This study considers the influence of retained acquired company top executives on the eventual outcome of corporate acquisitions. We test opposing views on how the organizational tenure of those executives could lead to the retention and divestiture of acquired companies. The Resource-based View (RBV) suggests that keeping acquired company top executives with longer organizational tenure will lead to more successful acquisition outcomes, as those executives have organization-specific knowledge that would facilitate effective implementation of the acquisition. By contrast, the Upper Echelons Perspective (UEP) suggests that retained top executives having short organizational tenure will lead to more successful outcomes, as they would have the adaptability to manage most effectively during the uncertainty and difficulty of the acquisition. Results of logistic regression analyses of 104 acquisitions followed over 5 years supported the RBV. Apparently, the benefits of long organizational tenure, such as more intimate understanding of the acquired company, lead to more successful outcomes than the benefits of short organizational tenure. The findings do not support the argument that drawbacks of long organizational tenure, such as commitment to the strategic status quo and rigidity, are detrimental after uncertainty and disruption. The results further suggest that one reason for the high frequency of acquisition failure might be because of the retention—and departures—of the wrong acquired company top executives.

Portfolio Restructuring and Limits to Hierarchical Governance: The Effects of Environmental Uncertainty and Diversification Strategy

Organization Science, Feb 1, 1998

The authors test whether acquisitions and divestitures are related to environmental uncertainty a... more The authors test whether acquisitions and divestitures are related to environmental uncertainty and diversification strategy. Drawing from transaction cost economics, they predicted that increases in environmental uncertainty would reduce a company's ability to manage its subsidiaries efficiently and would lead to divestiture. Conversely, they predicted that decreases in environmental uncertainty would enable a company to manage its subsidiaries more efficiently and would lead to acquisition. Those predictions were expected to be strongest for firms with intermediate levels of diversification, as such firms are believed to be the most difficult to manage efficiently. Repeated measures analyses of a panel of 164 Fortune 500 companies supported the predictions for highly diversified firms (e.g., unrelated businesses) only. Less diversified firms reacted to increases in uncertainty by acquiring and to decreases in uncertainty by divesting. The results suggest that the relationship between diversification strategy and portfolio restructuring depends on environmental uncertainty. In addition, the study findings imply that there may be limits in the hierarchy's governance efficiency in relation to market modes and that those limits may be affected by environmental uncertainty and diversification strategy.

Toward methodological exchange

Emerald eBooks, 2012

This book series' mission is to provide a forum for critique, commentary and discussion about... more This book series' mission is to provide a forum for critique, commentary and discussion about key methodology issues in the strategic management field. Strategic management relies on an array of complex methods drawn from various allied disciplines to examine how managers attempt to lead their firms toward success. The seventh volume of the series is built around the theme of "West Meets East: Toward Methodological Exchange". Within this overarching theme, this volume consists of two parts. The first is "Developing Quantitative Techniques" and the second is ""Exploring Mixed Research Methods". With authors from an array of country backgrounds, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Russia, Singapore, the UK and the US, this volume will help promote methodological exchange between the West and the East.

Introduction

Research Methodology in Strategy and Management, Dec 17, 2005

Introduction

Research Methodology in Strategy and Management, Jul 6, 2006

Introduction

Research Methodology in Strategy and Management, 2009

Environmental Uncertainty, Growth, and the Performance of Divested Spin-offs

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2014

It is has been long held that subsidiaries are spun-off so they can respond more effectively to e... more

Restructuring and Divestitures

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management, Mar 29, 2017

Growth strategies have long been a priority for executive leadership. However, growth can also cr... more Growth strategies have long been a priority for executive leadership. However, growth can also create problems. Leaders may need to use restructuring and divestiture actions to regain control, improve transparency, and re-establish efficiency. Given that leaders benefit from having insights into the antecedents, processes, outcomes, and decisions associated with unwinding growth most effectively, it is essential to consider the body of knowledge that exists in strategic management on restructuring and divestiture. This review seeks to describe what is currently known and not known about restructuring and divestiture and will give future researchers some suggested directions for further developing knowledge about these expensive and risky actions. The assessment is organized round five key questions that have shaped the field’s literature base: Why do firms divest? How do firms divest? Do divestitures create value? What happens to the divested units? And what are some promising directions for future knowledge development? Afterwards, three challenges for knowledge development are presented: What is value creation and for whom does it matter? What to do about incomplete information? And, is there a need for integrating different levels of strategy? Overall, it is important to identify, develop, and analyze the conceptual models of restructuring and divestiture with the purpose of guiding future research to provide knowledge that decision-makers will find useful as they engage in restructuring and divestitures.

Donald Bergh

Uploads

Papers by Donald Bergh

Log In