1.1 Questions raised and logic of the book
As this book was first being drafted, academic circles were judging that Chinaâs outward foreign direct investment in 2014 would exceed inbound foreign investment to China. Cross-border M&A are increasingly becoming the main form of Chinaâs outward foreign direct investment.
This book studies cross-border M&A by Chinese enterprises in Chinaâs outward foreign direct investment from the perspective of enterprises. In this study, the core concerns of enterprises involve factors affecting cross-border M&A, success or failure as well as their performance of these cases. Therefore, this book is a specific study of the relationship between the affecting factors, the success or failure and performance of cross-border M&A conducted by Chinese enterprises.
The relationship between the influencing factors and the performance of the cross-border M&A cases, from the perspective of Chinese enterprises, is essentially a question of comparison and selection. For instance, the major question that enterprises are confronting is making a judgement on whether cross-border M&A are necessary. Once they decide to conduct cross-border M&A, the following questions will be critical for the decision-makers. What are the influencing factors for cross-border M&A and their impacts on the success or failure and performance of cross-border M&A? Should the target company be chosen in developed or developing countries? Since there are options, of course, comparisons will be needed to choose the right target company. Therefore, this book focuses on the comparative study of the success or failure and performance of cross-border M&A by Chinese enterprises.
The title of this book is A Comparative Study on the Success or Failure and Performance of Cross-border M&A by Chinese Enterprises. To study this problem, there are different levels of logical progression. The first level is the foundation, while the second level is the expansion and answer to the first level. That is to say, studying the second level is to explain and answer the first level.
The key to the success of cross-border M&A by Chinese enterprises lies in comparative selection. The influencing factors of an M&A may be beneficial or unfavourable to the success of the M&A, may be unfavourable or beneficial to the performance of the M&A, may be beneficial or unfavourable in developed countries and may be unfavourable or beneficial in developing countries; the former is the comparative choice of whether or not to merge and how to merge, and the latter is the comparative choice of a target company in developed or developing countries. On such a basis, the factors affecting the success or failure and performance of cross-border M&A are what need to be analysed, as well as how these factors affecting cross-border M&A work in the success or failure and the performance of M&A and what their comparisons are, and evaluating the performance and comparisons of target companies that choose developed versus developing countries. The questions that need to be analysed in this book also include how to address the existing theories and literature, at home and abroad, and outline the background influences and effects of waves, motivations and risks of Chinese enterprisesâ cross-border M&A on the success or failure and performance of Chinese enterprisesâ cross-border M&A.
To summarise, this book takes the development stages or waves, motivations and risks of Chinese enterprisesâ cross-border M&A, existing theory and literature as background and foundation, analyses the influencing factors of cross-border M&A by Chinese enterprises, compares the same or different influencing factors of cross-border M&A in terms of success or failure and performance, in developed and developing countries, answers the relationship between the influencing factors of cross-border M&A and the success or failure and performance of cross-border M&A and provides reference for the comparative selection of cross-border M&A by Chinese enterprises. The book will address the main factors affecting the success or failure and performance of cross-border M&A by Chinese enterprises, and explore whether a certain factor has the same or different impact on the success or failure and performance of cross-border M&A in developed or developing countries.