Superstitious Learning with Rare Strategic Decisions: Theory and Evidence from Corporate Acquisitions

References

• Amburgey T. L., Miner A. S. Strategic momentum: The effects of repetitive, positional and contextual momentum on merger activity. Strategic Management J. (1992) 13(5):335–348Crossref, Google Scholar
• Anand B., Khanna T. Do firms learn to create value? The case of alliances. Strategic Management J. (2000) 21(3):295–316Crossref, Google Scholar
• Anderson E. Two firms, one frontier: On assessing joint venture performance. Sloan Management Rev. (1990) 31:19–30Google Scholar
• Argote L.Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge (1999) (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA) Google Scholar
• Ayron P., McCleiland A. G. R. How real is overconfidence? J. Behavioral Decision Making (1997) 10:279–286Crossref, Google Scholar
• Beckman C., Haunschild P. Network learning: The effects of partners' heterogeneity of experience on corporate acquisitions. Admin. Sci. Quart. (2002) 47:92–124Crossref, Google Scholar
• Brown J., Duguid P. Organizational learning and communities of practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning, and innovating. Organ. Sci. (1991) 2(1):40–57Crossref, Google Scholar
• Brown S. L., Eisenhardt K. M. The art of continuous change: Linking complexity theory and time-paced evolution in relentlessly shifting organizations. Admin. Sci. Quart. (1997) 42:1–34Crossref, Google Scholar
• Bruton G. D., Oviatt B. M., White M. A. Performance of acquisitions of distressed firms. Acad. Management J. (1994) 37:972–989Crossref, Google Scholar
• Capron L. The long-term performance of horizontal acquisitions. Strategic Management J. (1999) 20:987–1018Crossref, Google Scholar
• Chatterjee S. Types of synergy and economic value: The impact of acquisitions on merging and rival firms. Strategic Management J. (1986) 7:119–139Crossref, Google Scholar
• Datta D. K. Organizational fit and acquisition performance: Effects of post-acquisition integration. Strategic Management J. (1991) 12:281–297Crossref, Google Scholar
• Datta D. K., Grant J. H. Relationships between type of acquisition, the autonomy given to the acquired firm, and acquisition success: An empirical analysis. J. Management (1990) 16:29–44Crossref, Google Scholar
• Deffenbacher K. A. Eyewitness accuracy and confidence. Law Human Behav. (1980) 4:243–260Crossref, Google Scholar
• Dunning D., Griffin D. W., Milojkovic J. D., Ross L. The overconfidence effect in social prediction. J. Personality Soc. Psych. (1990) 58:568–581Crossref, Google Scholar
• Eisenhardt K., Tabrizi B. Accelerating adaptive processes: Product innovation in the global computer industry. Admin. Sci. Quart. (1995) 40:84–110Crossref, Google Scholar
• Fama E. F., French K. R. The cross-section of expected stock returns. J. Finance (1992) 47:427–466Crossref, Google Scholar
• Fama E. F., French K. R. Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds. J. Financial Econom. (1993) 33:3–56Crossref, Google Scholar
• Fama E. F., French K. R. The CAPM is wanted, dead or alive. J. Finance (1996) 51:1947–1958Crossref, Google Scholar
• Fowler F. J.Survey Research Methods (1993) (Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA) Google Scholar
• Fowler F. K., Schmidt D. Determinants of tender offer post-acquisition financial performance. Strategic Management J. (1989) 10:339–350Crossref, Google Scholar
• Gavetti G. Cognition and hierarchy: Rethinking the micro-foundations of capabilities' development. Organ. Sci. (2005) 16(6):599–617Link, Google Scholar
• Gavetti G., Levinthal D., Rivkin J. Strategy making in novel and complex worlds: The power of analogy. Strategic Management J. (2005) 26(8):691–712Crossref, Google Scholar
• Goldberg L. R. The effectiveness of clinicians' judgments: The diagnosis of organic brain damage from the Bender-Gestalt test. J. Consulting Psych. (1959) 23:25–33Crossref, Google Scholar
• Greve H. R. The effect of change on performance: Inertia and regression towards the mean. Admin. Sci. Quart. (1999) 44:590–614Crossref, Google Scholar
• Greve H. R.Organizational Learning from Performance Feedback: A Behavioral Perspective on Innovation and Change (2003) (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK) Crossref, Google Scholar
• Groves R. M., Cialdini R. B., Couper M. P. Understanding the decision to participate in a survey. Public Opinion Quart. (1992) 56:475–495Crossref, Google Scholar
• Haleblian J., Finkelstein S. The influence of organizational acquisition experience on acquisition performance: A behavioral learning perspective. Admin. Sci. Quart. (1999) 44:29–56Crossref, Google Scholar
• Haleblian J., Kim J., Rajagopalan N. The influence of acquisition experience and performance on acquisition behavior: Evidence from the U.S. commercial banking industry. Acad. Management J. (2006) 49(2):357–370Crossref, Google Scholar
• Hambrick D., Cho T., Chen M. The influence of top management team heterogeneity on firms' competitive moves. Admin. Sci. Quart. (1996) 41:659–684Crossref, Google Scholar
• Haspeslagh P., Jemison D.Managing Acquisitions (1991) (Free Press, New York) Google Scholar
• Haunschild P., Ni B. Learning from complexity: Effects of prior accidents and incidents on airlines' learning. Admin. Sci. Quart. (2002) 47:609–643Crossref, Google Scholar
• Hayward M. L. A. When do firms learn from their acquisition experience? Evidence from 1990–1995. Strategic Management J. (2002) 23:21–40Crossref, Google Scholar
• Healy P. M., Palepu K., Ruback R. S. Does corporate performance improve after mergers? J. Financial Econom. (1992) 31:135–175Crossref, Google Scholar
• Helfat C., Fynkelstein S., Mitchell W., Singh H., Teece D., Winter S.Dynamic Capabilities: Strategic Change in Organizations (2007) (Blackwell, Oxford, UK) Google Scholar
• Herriott S. R., Levinthal D., March J. G. Learning from experience in organizations. Amer. Econom. Rev. (1985) 75:298–302Google Scholar
• Ikenberry D., Lakonishok J., Vermaelen T. Market underreaction to open market share repurchases. J. Financial Econom. (1995) 39:181–208Crossref, Google Scholar
• Kale P. Building an alliance capability: A knowledge-based approach. (1999) . Unpublished dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, PhiladelphiaGoogle Scholar
• Kale P., Singh H. Building firm capabilities through learning: The role of the alliance learning process in alliance capability and firm level alliance success. Strategic Management J. (2007) 28(10):981–1000Crossref, Google Scholar
• Keck S. L., Tushman M. Environmental and organizational context and executive team structure. Acad. Management J. (1993) 36:1314–1344Crossref, Google Scholar
• Klayman J., Soll J. B., Gonzales-Vallejo C., Barlas S. Overconfidence: It depends on how, what and whom you ask. Organ. Behav. Human Decision Processes (1999) 79(3):216–247Crossref, Google Scholar
• Kogut B., Zander U. Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organ. Sci. (1992) 3(3):383–397Link, Google Scholar
• Kusewitt J. B. An exploratory study of strategic acquisition factors relating to performance. Strategic Management J. (1985) 6:151–170Crossref, Google Scholar
• Lant T., Mezias S. Managing discontinuous change: A simulation study of organizational learning and entrepreneurship. Strategic Management J. (1990) 11:147–180Google Scholar
• Levinthal D. A., March J. G. A model of adaptive organizational search. J. Econom. Behav. Organ. (1981) 2:307–333Crossref, Google Scholar
• Levitt B., March J. G. Organizational learning. Ann. Rev. Sociol. (1988) 14:319–340Crossref, Google Scholar
• Lichtenstein S., Fischhoff B. Do those who know more also know more about how much they know? Organ. Behav. Human Performance (1977) 20:150–183Google Scholar
• Lichtenstein S., Phillips L. D., Fischhoff B., Kahneman D., Slovic P., Tversky A. Calibration of probability: The state of the art in 1980. Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases (1982) (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK) Crossref, Google Scholar
• Lubatkin M. Merger strategies and stockholder value. Strategic Management J. (1987) 8:39–53Crossref, Google Scholar
• Machiavelli N.The Prince (1532) (J. M. Dent & Sons, London) . Translated by W. K. Marriott, 1908Google Scholar
• Malmendier U., Tate G. CEO overconfidence and corporate investment. J. Finance (2005) 60(6):2661–2700Crossref, Google Scholar
• March J., Levitt B. Organizational learning. Annual Rev. Sociol. (1988) 16:319–340Google Scholar
• March J. G., Sproull L. S., Tamuz M. Learning from samples of one or fewer. Organ. Sci. (1991) 2(1):1–13Link, Google Scholar
• Miller D. The architecture of simplicity. Acad. Management Rev. (1993) 18:116–138Crossref, Google Scholar
• Miller D., Baum J., McKelvey B. Selection processes inside organizations: The self-reinforcing consequences of success. Variations in Organization Science (1999) (Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA) Crossref, Google Scholar
• Miller D., Chen M. J. Sources and consequences of competitive inertia. Admin. Sci. Quart. (1994) 39:1–23Crossref, Google Scholar
• Miller D., Chen M. J. The simplicity of competitive repertoires. Strategic Management J. (1996) 17:419–439Crossref, Google Scholar
• Milliken F. J., Lant T. K. The effects of an organization's recent performance history on strategic persistence and change. Adv. Strategic Management (1991) 7:129–156Google Scholar
• Nelson R., Winter S.An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (1982) (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA) Google Scholar
• Neter J., Wasserman W., Kutner M. H.Applied Linear Statistical Models (1985) 2nd ed.(Irwin, Homewood, IL) Google Scholar
• Nonaka I. A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organ. Sci. (1994) 5(1):14–37Link, Google Scholar
• Ocasio W. The enactment of economic adversity: A reconciliation of theories of failure-induced change and threat-rigidity. Res. Organ. Behav. (1995) 17:287–331Google Scholar
• Oskamp S. Overconfidence in case study judgment. J. Consulting Psych. (1965) 29:261–265Crossref, Google Scholar
• Rau P. R., Vermaelen T. Glamour, value and the post-acquisition performance of acquiring firms. J. Financial Econom. (1998) 49(2):223–253Crossref, Google Scholar
• Ronis D., Yatges F. Components of probability judgment accuracy: Individual consistency and effects of subject matter and assessment method. Organ. Behav. Human Decision Processes (1987) 40(2):193–218Crossref, Google Scholar
• Seth A. Sources of value creation in acquisitions: An empirical investigation. Strategic Management J. (1990) 11:431–46Crossref, Google Scholar
• Shanley M. T., Von Krogh G., Sinatra A., Singh H. Determinants and consequences of post-acquisition change. Managing Corporate Acquisitions: A Comparative Analysis (1994) (MacMillan Press, London) 391–413Google Scholar
• Singh H., Montgomery C. A. Corporate acquisition strategies and economic performance. Strategic Management J. (1987) 8:377–386Crossref, Google Scholar
• Sitkin S. B. Learning through failure: The strategy of small losses. Res. Organ. Behav. (1992) 14:231–266Google Scholar
• Skinner B. F. “Superstition” in pigeons. J. Experiment. Psych. (1948) 38:168–172Crossref, Google Scholar
• Soll J. B., Klayman J. Overconfidence in interval estimates. J. Experiment. Psych. (2004) 30(2):299–314Google Scholar
• Szulanski G., Dosi G., Nelson R. R., Winter S. G. Appropriability and challenge of scope: Banc one routinizes replications. The Nature and Dynamics of Organizational Capabilities (2000) (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK) 69–98Google Scholar
• Teece D., Pisano G., Shuen A. Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management J. (1997) 18(7):509–533Crossref, Google Scholar
• Vallone R. P., Griffin D. W., Lin S., Ross L. Overconfident predictions of future outcomes by self and others. J. Personality Soc. Psych. (1990) 58:582–592Crossref, Google Scholar
• Watson W., Kumar K., Michaelsen L. Cultural diversity's impact on interaction process and performance: Comparing homogeneous and diverse task groups. Acad. Management J. (1993) 36:590–602Crossref, Google Scholar
• Weick K.The Social Psychology of Organizing (1979) 2nd ed.(Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA) Google Scholar
• Weick K.Sensemaking in Organizations (1995) (Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA) Google Scholar
• Wiersema M. F., Bantel K. TMT demography and corporate strategic change. Acad. Management J. (1992) 35:91–121Crossref, Google Scholar
• Winter S., Teece D. J. Knowledge and competence as strategic assets. The Competitive Challenge: Strategies for Industrial Innovation and Renewal (1987) (Ballinger, Cambridge, MA) 159–184Google Scholar
• Winter S., Szulanski G. Replication as strategy. Organ. Sci. (2001) 12(6):730–743Link, Google Scholar
• Yelle L. E. The learning curve: Historical review and comprehensive survey. Decision Sci. (1979) 10:302–328Crossref, Google Scholar
• Zander U., Kogut B. Knowledge and the speed of the transfer and imitation of organizational capabilities: An empirical test. Organ. Sci. (1995) 6(1):76–92Link, Google Scholar
• Zollo M. Knowledge codification, process routinization and the creation of organizational capabilities. (1998) . Unpublished dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, PhiladelphiaGoogle Scholar
• Zollo M., Meyer D. What is M&A performance? Acad. Management Perspectives (2008) 55–77Crossref, Google Scholar
• Zollo M., Reuer J. Experience spillovers across corporate development activities. Organ. Sci. (2009) . ForthcomingGoogle Scholar
• Zollo M., Singh H. Deliberate learning in corporate acquisitions: Post-acquisition strategies and integration capability in U.S. bank mergers. Strategic Management J. (2004) 25:1233–1256Crossref, Google Scholar
• Zollo M., Winter S. G. Deliberate learning and the evolution of dynamic capabilities. Organ. Sci. (2002) 13(3):339–351Link, Google Scholar