Post-merger strategy change in Moroccan firms: An empirical study

Abstract

The optimal acquisition strategy is a challenge for both the business and the academic world. That is why the academic world tries to identify all the factors and perspectives that influence the success of the acquisition strategy. The reality of the business world is that most mergers and acquisitions do not produce the expected synergies and effects.

Indeed, the impact of key organisational variables on the success of the acquisition strategy. The objective of this paper would be to determine the impact of strategy, organisational structure and corporate culture in the change process in the target company. For this purpose, the success of the target company is defined by comparing the performance of the company before and after the acquisition process using financial indicators. The empirical research was conducted on a sample of target 238 companies in Morocco from 2005 to 2020. The data was collected via questionnaire, followed by an analysis of the company's performance for the three-year period after the transaction was executed.

The empirical research confirmed the existence of a statistically significant correlation between the radical change of the target company and the analysis of its performance after the takeover. Similarly, the research confirmed a statistically significant correlation between changes in organisational structure and the target's post-takeover performance and a statistically significant correlation between greater change in corporate culture and the target's post-takeover performance. The scientific contribution of this paper was the verification of the importance of changes in strategy, organisational structure and corporate culture for change management in target firms.

Keywords: strategy change, Merger Acquisition, Morocco, Company performance.

JEL Classification : D23 

Paper type : Empirical research,