Economic Themes (2009) 47 (1) 2, 47-61

THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP FOR THE TAKEOVER PROCESS SUCCESS


Verica Babić, Slađana Savović

Abstract: This paper presents the role and importance of leadership for the takeover process success. Takeovers have a unique potential to transform firms and to contribute to corporate renewal, to gain strategic and operational advantages that neither firm can achieve on its own. Because of that it is more common for companies to engage in takeover process in order to keep or strengthen their market positions. However, it is often the case that, contrary to the intended goals, companies lose market share, have small profits and in the long run shareholders lose value. While a certain number of failures can be explained through market and financial factors, a significant number is related to overlooking human resource factors. The role of leadership in takeover success and failure has been ignored by scholars and practitioners. This paper shows that leadership can contribute to successful completion of takeover activities, such as: transformational leadership, integration of corporate cultures and communication process.

Keywords:  Takeover; Leadership; Organizational culture; Strategy; Change management

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