ALL ASPIRATIONS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL: THE DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL ASPIRATIONS ON ACQUISITION BEHAVIOR

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kim, Ji-Yub (Jay); Finkelstein, Sydney; Haleblian, Jerayr (John)
• 署名单位: INSEAD Business School; Dartmouth College; Dartmouth College; University of California System; University of California Riverside
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4273
• DOI: 10.5465/amj.2012.1102
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 1361-1388
• 关键词: COMMERCIAL BANKING INDUSTRY; SELF-SERVING ASSESSMENTS; RISK-RETURN PARADOX; CORPORATE ACQUISITIONS; empirical exploration; STRATEGIC PERSISTENCE; organizational-change; performance feedback; firm performance; LEVEL ADAPTATION

摘要

Research on performance aspirations has tended to assume that historical and social aspirations work in parallel and influence strategic behavior in a similar manner. We posit that these two distinct modes of performance comparison in fact lead to dissimilar firm behavior. We also explore how variability in prior acquisition performance influences the relationship between aspiration levels and subsequent strategic behavior. We examine our questions in the context of mergers and acquisitions within the U.S. commercial banking industry from 1988 to 2005. Consistent with our opening prediction, we find that firms' acquisition behavior varies significantly depending on whether historical or social comparisons are used. We also find that high variability in the previous acquisition performance of a firm intensifies the relationship between acquisition performance relative to aspirations and the probability of the firm making acquisitions below historical and social aspirations, but attenuates the relationship above such aspirations.