Title: Managing the retention of key employees in international acquisitions: a multiple case study

Authors: Tahir Ali; Khuram Shahzad

Addresses: School of Marketing and Communication, University of Vaasa, Finland ' School of Technology and Innovations, University of Vaasa, Finland

Abstract: How do we retain key employees in international acquisitions? Drawing from international business and human resource management literature, this study develops an integrated conceptual framework that identifies the factors enabling the retention of key employees in international acquisitions (IAs) as effective leadership, financial and non-financial benefits, effective communication, autonomy granted to the employees of acquired unit, and level and speed of integration of acquired unit. The findings from three case studies show that effective leadership of the acquirer, both financial and non-financial incentives, effective communication, high autonomy granted to the employees of the acquired unit, and moderate level and speed of integration of the acquired unit help in retaining key employees of the acquired unit. This study also discusses the implications for both researchers and practitioners.

Keywords: key employees' retention; international acquisitions; IAs; managing key employees' retention; integration speed and levels.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEXPORTM.2024.142577

International Journal of Export Marketing, 2024 Vol.6 No.3, pp.358 - 372

Received: 15 Aug 2024
Accepted: 04 Sep 2024
Published online: 09 Nov 2024 *

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