The Dynamic Relation Between IS Integration and the Merger and Acquisition Process

Corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have established themselves as prominent tools for corporate strategy.
Consequently more and more organizations direct their attention towards the potential benefits of an M&A and the problems of
leveraging these potentials. Managing information systems (IS) integration in M&A means understanding the dynamic relationship
between IS integration and the M&A context and act upon the environmental pressure on the integration solution. We present a six
dimensional framework for IS integration in corporate M&A by integrating previous research on M&A and IS integration. We also
present and discuss the IS integration in four corporate M&A. Trough the combination of the framework’s dimensions, the
dynamics of different parts of the M&A process is captured. We suggest that the framework may be used in further research to
build cumulative knowledge about how to govern and manage IS integration in M&A. We also suggest that the framework can be
used by firms in their acquisitions as it shows, through the combination of dimensions, IS integration issues, decisions, and actions
a firm has to consider in acquisition processes.