Long-Term Acquisition Strategies in the U.S. Economy

There is evidence suggesting,that acquisitive firms do not use consistent long-term acquisition strategies. Yet the research of strategic management academicians suggest that such strategies should be beneficial. As such, this study attempts to determine if acquisitive firms exhibit, by their externally observable patterns of behavior, evidence of pursuing consistent long-term acquisition strategies. If so, this study also attempts to determine the nature of these strategies, how common they are in the U.S. economy, and if consistent strategies are associated with superior performance. Results show that the majority of acquisitive firms do appear to follow acquisition strategies which are consistent over time. In fact, approximately one-half of the studied firms followed one of two highly consistent strategies. Finally, though the consistency of afirm's acquisition strategy wasfound not to be associated with better performance, strategies that evidenced "strategic fit" did show superior profitability.