SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED FIRMS TOP MANAGEMENT TEAMS' DECISION-MAKING IN GLOBAL ACQUISITIONS

The new global marketplace has caused changes in some organizations'/industries' forms and execution of strategy and reliance on international personnel. Entry and success through the accumulation of knowledge in the global marketplace have become the impetus for sustainable competitive/developmental advantage for many corporations. Many organizations choose a strategy focusing on international acquisitions in foreign markets to compete effectively in the current ever-changing dynamic competitive landscape. After acquisition, the monitoring of the operations of the new international subsidiary by US firms typically is an ethnocentric example of applying home-country standards and controls. We suggest that the top management team (TMT) of a firm is a valuable resource, needs to be retained and that ethnocentric monitoring must be reconsidered. This research focuses on the TMT and their value to the firm to help explain the variation in acquisition success. Thus post-acquisition integration and monitoring must account for this valuable asset.