Reshaping M&A research: Strategies and tactics for a new research agenda

I apply a cognitive perspective to understand how primary cognitive mechanisms—simplification, elaboration, and interaction—have influenced the way scholars, as individuals and as a community, have queried acquisitions so far. While cognitive mechanisms have played an important role in advancing our grasp of acquisitions, they have also favored the emergence of hidden, taken-for-granted assumptions, eventually resulting in reproducing the same lines of reasoning, applying the same stock of methodological and theoretical approaches, often with a marginal contribution to our understanding of the field. To remedy this state of affairs, I propose a framework that encompasses four strategies and a set of tactics to assist scholars in challenging hidden assumptions, playing with ideas, considering context in acquisitions, and rethinking theoretical frameworks. I contrast established perspectives with novel ones to build a research agenda.