The State of Case Study Research in Mergers & Acquisitions: A Review of the Literature in Different Management Streams

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the state of case study research in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) literature that account for different management streams. It also recommends directions for future research and suggests fruitful guidelines for establishing better research rigor in qualitative methods. Methodology: This study draws attention to the case study method in qualitative research and thereby aims to review previous studies using said approach in M&A related literature. Findings: The main findings include, 57 journal articles are found to be using different qualitative methods of which 40 (17) articles have focused on developed (emerging) markets, single (multiple) case based studies are 29 (24) and remaining four have used survey and interview methods. Importantly, a meager number of studies have accomplished the purpose of case study research in business administration, i.e. testing extant theory and building new theory. Albeit, doing case study research among emerging markets is exiting and these institutional countries provide a unique setting to build theory as well as advance the current knowledge because of increasing prospects for M&A and other growth strategies. Research limitations: This stylized review of case study research in M&A literature is limited to journal publications and qualitative methods. Hence, a survey of qualitative and quantitative methods in growth strategies is left to future research. Practical implications: Qualitative researchers, in general, would benefit from the bibliometric analysis and comprehensive summary of past research. While, case study researchers, in particular, would benefit not only form the later content but also from suggestions reflecting the research quality and validity. Originality: This study, indeed, is an original attempt at presenting the current state and review of case study method in M&A research, provided no earlier study claims this.