TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM TURNOVER IN MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

This paper reviews the evolving literature on top management team effects in mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Existing research has focused on understanding why incumbent top managers depart at higher rates than normal following an acquisition and why high turnover rates have negative postacquisition performance effects. We explore two new areas of inquiry. First, we discuss the role of newly hired executives - executives hired after the acquisition. Our research indicates that executives who join target companies after an acquisition also depart more quickly than executives who join companies not previously involved in an acquisition. Acquisitions appear to create long-term instability in the target firm's top management team - both incumbent and new-hire executives depart at higher rates than normal well into the future. Integration of the target firm often intensifies instability within the target company's top management team. This instability affects performance and leads to further integration efforts as the firm attempts to improve performance. These additional integration activities, in turn, lead to even higher subsequent executive turnover. Second, we examine the topic of director turnover and propose a theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between acquisitions and director retention. Future research that considers the role of directors as well as executives may lead to deeper insight into the nature of turnover and integration effects in mergers and acquisitions.