The temporal dynamics of the divestiture process
ISBN
10.5465/AMBPP.2006.27169714
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2006-09-11
Author(s)
Abstract
Despite their major theoretical and practical relevance, the temporal dynamics of the divestiture process “ including aspects such as the starting and ending point of the divestiture process, the timing of divestiture announcements, the lag between divestiture announcement and operative actions, the unfolding of these actions, and the importance of different time views (objective vs. subjective) more generally ” have remained unexplored. The longitudinal, event-based study of how Siemens, Europe's largest electronics' company, divested its semiconductor business and two other electronic components' units in the late 1990s addresses this broad set of unresolved issues. Specifically, the paper unravels the starting and ending point of the divestiture process and highlights potential determinants both for the starting point (e.g., capital market's subjective time view) of the process and for the timing of the actual announcement of the divestiture decision. Moreover, the paper documents the different stages in the unfolding of the divestiture process. It unravels the lags and sequence in which actions occur and outlines how different “time clocks” and subjective time views impact on the entire process. Thereby, the current paper contributes to extant research by a.) revisiting and revising taken for granted assumptions on the temporal dynamics of divestitures (e.g., its starting and ending point), b.) by extending current knowledge in respect to the timing of divestiture announcements, c.) by acknowledging not only the importance of objective but also subjective time views, and d.) by generating new insights into the unfolding, sequencing and timing of multiple divestitures.
Language
English
HSG Classification
not classified
Refereed
No
Book title
Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings
Publisher
Academy of Management (AOM)
Event Title
66th Academy of Management Annual Meeting (AOM) 2006 "Knowledge, Action and the Public Concern"
Event Location
Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
Event Date
11.-16.08.2006
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
30454