The Paradox of Post-acquisition IS Integration Preparation: Preparing Under Incomplete Information

In this paper, we propose the paradox of preparation as a salient dilemma facing IT organizations in firms anticipating acquisitions or acquisition activity. The paradox of preparation originates in the need to start preparations for post-acquisition IS integration long before the legal combination is concluded, and the contradictory observation that only after the deal is concluded will it be known to the acquirer what they should have prepared for. Based on an in-depth, explorative study of how a large multi-national company prepared for an anticipated and later enacted acquisition with another large multi-national company, we develop a process theory depicting how this paradoxical tension impacts IS integration preparation activities in the period leading up to the acquisition. Initially, preparations are based on assumptions about the future challenge. As assumptions are confirmed or rejected, focus of preparation activities are recurrently revised. To handle uncertainty of assumptions, the firm actively considered the scope of possibilities and the universality of activities to manage the paradox of preparation.