Introduction

Abstract

In the recent past corporate acquisitions have drastically changed the business landscape1 in innovation-driven industries.2 An increasing number of acquisitions within these industries can be observed and, in particular, acquisitions where the main objective is to obtain technological competencies and to foster innovativeness have become more popular.3 Furthermore, the acquisition’s effect on the company’s innovativeness and underlying resource base has become a crucial factor impacting on competitiveness and sustained profitable growth. Nevertheless, acquisitions nowadays mostly result in a lowered innovation rate (Hitt et al., 1991b) and managers rarely achieve successful internalization or the efficient deployment of the acquired competencies (Capron & Mitchell, 1998). This is partly due to the limited approach researchers and practitioners apply to the topic of corporate acquisitions and their integration by addressing solely the financial, legal and economic aspects as separate concerns rather than taking a more holistic approach (Larsson & Finkelstein, 1999) which would also incorporate a technology- based perspective.