Managing the IT Integration of Acquisitions by Multi-Business Organizations

Acquisitions are standard components of the growth strategies of many organizations. Frequently, acquisitions raise important questions concerning how and to what extent the acquisition’s information technology (IT) needs to be integrated into the IT of the acquirer. We investigate how the initial conditions of business and IT alignment in the acquirer and the acquisition affect the complexity of the post-acquisition IT integration process, in acquisitions of business units by multi-business organizations. Adopting an IT alignment model for multi-business organizations, we explain the complexity of IT integration paths in two acquisitions made by the industry group Trelleborg AB. We identify four initial business and IT strategic alignment conditions where the IT integration process is a simple one-step process exploiting existing business and IT capabilities. Low compliance with these conditions leads to increased complexity because additional business and/or IT capabilities have to be developed to leverage the full potential of the acquisition.