ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING: A FUNCTIONAL TRAJECTORY PERSPECTIVE IN RELATED ACQUISITIONS

Resumo

A substantive body of theory and research on the studies of culture in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) proposes that social differences can create obstacles to achieving integration benefits. In this paper we proposed a learning perspective to analyze the integration process in related acquisitions.  The main objective of the paper is investigate the learning trajectories perceived by the social agents involved in three related acquisitions made by Vale, the first largest iron mining company in the world. The results indicate that learning not only requires the experience embodied in each organizations’ trajectories, but integration of the knowledge contained in each of them.