In an effort to explain why business acquisitions often fail, scholars

Thank you GMATNinja for the wonderful and elaborate explanation!

Apparently, the benefits of long organizational tenure lead to more successful outcomes than the benefits of short organizational tenure. While longer tenured top executives may have trouble adapting to change, it appears that their perspectives and knowledge bases offer unique value after the acquisition. Although from the UEP position it seems sensible to retain less tenured executives and allow more tenured ones to leave, such a strategy appears to lower the probability of acquisition success.
Are the above lines what author is speaking ? and before that it was Burgh's study??
So Q3 C part- can be incorrect because Burgh doesnt talk about adaptability??
GMATNinja karishma @targettestprep

Let me give it a try :--




You see Burgh has only one doubt wherein he says that chances are that acquisition might not be very successful.
Now if you look at option D, this option is the only difference between Burgh's analysis and UEP proponents thoughts.

GMATNinja

Need your help.



Though i selected the correct answer choice B, i am stuck with difference between Post Aquisition success (As mentioned in the passage) and success of the acquisition process (as mentioned in option B)

I was thinking both conveys different meaning. Can you please let me know whether both conveys same meaning.

Thanks much

In a literal sense, “post-acquisition success” and “the success of an acquisition process” do not have the same meaning. But the two concepts are closely related. “Post-acquisition” refers to the period following the actual acquisition. On the other hand, the “acquisition process” encompasses not only the period following the acquisition, but also the period leading up to and including the acquisition.

Nevertheless, when we think about these two concepts practically and in context, it’s apparent that “the success of an acquisition process” is going to be dependent on the level of “post-acquisition success.” For example, it’s highly unlikely that a company’s successful acquisition process includes a disastrous post-acquisition bankruptcy. Likewise, a profitable post-acquisition integration is unlikely to be the result of a poor acquisition process. So, as it relates to question 2, the resource-based view is based on the idea that company-specific knowledge, is an important factor in both the success of an acquisition process and post-acquisition success.

More broadly, this question is a great example of where seeing the big picture on RC can be beneficial. It would be easy get caught in the weeds and obsess over the nuances of these two terms, but it’s far better to zoom out and identify how the concepts overlap and interact. These two terms are highly unlikely to ever appear in a RC passage on your test, but developing the ability to stay above the fray and keep the big picture in mind will serve you well on many passages.

I hope that helps!

According to the passage, the research mentioned in line 6 suggests which of the following about lower-ranked top executives and postacquisition success?

(A) Given that these executives are unlikely to contribute to postacquisition success, little effort should be spent trying to retain them.
-this choice simply goes beyond what was said in the passage
-is it necessarily true that they are ‘unlikely to contribute to postacquisition success’? That’s a strong claim to be making…
-there’s also no mention of how much effort should be spent on retaining them…
(B) The shorter their length of service, the less likely it is that these executives will play a significant role in postacquisition success.
-this line of reasoning applies to the top-level executives
-still, even if it did consider the top-ranked executives, the choice is inaccurate…according to the UEP view…these individuals are more adaptable and could actually play a significant role in success (but of course we learn in the second paragraph that this strategy is not optimal (for unknown reasons) at least according to Bergh)
(C) These executives are less important to postacquisition success than are more highly ranked top executives.
Correct
(D) If they have long tenures, these executives may prove to be as important to postacquisition success as are more highly ranked top executives.
-maybe, maybe not…but that’s not what the passage says
(E) Postacquisition success is unlikely if these executives are retained.
-again another strong claim that is unwarranted

The resource-based view, as described in the passage, is based on which of the following ideas?

(A) The managerial skills of top executives become strongest after the first five years of their tenure. X
(B) Company-specific knowledge is an important factor in the success of an acquisition process.
-Correct. This is exactly what the view is about: “idiosyncratic and nontransferable knowledge of the acquired company”.
(C) The amount of nontransferable knowledge possessed by long-tenured top executives tends to be underestimated.
-X underestimated is incorrect
(D) Effective implementation of an acquisition depends primarily on the ability of executives to adapt to change.
-this is the UEP view…I think it would be a mistake to suggest that longer-tenured executives aren’t adaptable, but that seems to be what this passage is implying
(E) Short-tenured executives are likely to impede the implementation of a successful acquisition strategy.
-again the RBV is about longer-tenured execs.

The passage suggests that Bergh and a proponent of the upper echelons perspective would be most likely to disagree over which of the following?

(A) Whether there is a positive correlation between short organizational tenure and managerial adaptability X
(B) Whether there is a positive correlation between long organizational tenure and the acquisition of idiosyncratic and nontransferable knowledge X
(C) Whether adaptability is a useful trait for an executive who is managing an acquisition process X
(D) Whether retaining less-tenured top executives of an acquired company is an optimal strategy for achieving postacquisition success
-Correct…I think this is the safe choice
-however, please note that the second paragraph is a disaster in writing…it never actually goes on to mention any reasons why the RBV is better than the UEP (at least nothing that we didn’t already know from the first paragraph)…in other words, the second paragraph is superficial at best
(E) Whether retaining highest-level top executives of acquired companies is more important than retaining lower-ranked top executives
-no…I think it’s clear that top-level executives are something they agree about …where they start splitting hairs on is length of tenure.

According to the passage, prior to Bergh’s study, research on the role of top executives of acquired companies in business acquisition success was limited in which of the following ways?

(A) It did not address how the organizational tenure of top executives affects postacquisition success.
-Correct
(B) It did not address why some companies have longer-tenured CEOs than others.
-no…false…the WHY was never in focus in the passage
(C) It did not consider strategies for retaining long-tenured top executives of acquired companies.
-strategies is wrong
(D) It failed to differentiate between the contribution of highest-level top executives to postacquisition success and that of lower-ranked top executives.
-contribution is wrong…not the focus
(E) It underestimated the potential contribution that lower-level top executives can make to postacquisition success.
-no mention of this

QUESTION #3 Explanation:

QUESTION #4 Explanation:

KarishmaB egmat @VeritasPrep Magoosh GMATNinja Sajjad1994

Hi I am facing difficulties in selecting one option out of C and D in question 3. Could you please help me in this.

Que - The passage suggests that Bergh and a proponent of the upper echelons perspective would be most likely to disagree over which of the following?

(C) Whether adaptability is a useful trait for an executive who is managing an acquisition process
(D) Whether retaining less-tenured top executives of an acquired company is an optimal strategy for achieving postacquisition success

As given in last paragraph of the passage, RBV position 'While longer tenured top executives may have trouble adapting to change, it appears that their perspectives and knowledge bases offer unique value after the acquisition.' Indirectly it means adaptability is not important. UEP position - 'It is sensible to retain less tenured top executives' indirectly it means that adaptability is important. Hence, I wanted to understand why is option C incorrect. Is it because of word 'acquisition process' instead of 'acquisition success' in option C.

Additionally, Option D looks weak because of word 'optimal' because as per UEP position, it is given that it is a sensible strategy. Hence, we cannot say anything regarding it is a optimal strategy.

Explanation 1 (by GMAT Ninja)

https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-an-effort ... l#p2033349

Explanation 2 (by GMATRockstar)

https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-an-effort ... l#p2746700

Explanation 3 (GMAC's Official)

3. The passage suggests that Bergh and a proponent of the upper echelons perspective would be most likely to disagree over which of the following?

(A) Whether there is a positive correlation between short organizational tenure and managerial adaptability
(B) Whether there is a positive correlation between long organizational tenure and the acquisition of idiosyncratic and nontransferable knowledge
(C) Whether adaptability is a useful trait for an executive who is managing an acquisition process
(D) Whether retaining less-tenured top executives of an acquired company is an optimal strategy for achieving postacquisition success
(E) Whether retaining highest-level top executives of acquired companies is more important than retaining lower-ranked top executives

Note Bergh's position -

...Bergh’s findings support the RBV position. Apparently, the benefits of long organizational tenure lead to more successful outcomes than the benefits of short organizational tenure. While longer tenured top executives may have trouble adapting to change, it appears that their perspectives and knowledge bases offer unique value after the acquisition.

...
The opposing position, offered by the upper echelons perspective (UEP), suggests that retaining top executives having short organizational tenure would lead to more successful outcomes, as they would have the adaptability to manage most effectively during the uncertainty of the acquisition process.

Bergh doesn't say that adaptability is useless. In fact, he says that they executive do have trouble adapting. The point he makes is that something else plays a bigger role (unique insights). Bergh says that long tenure increases probability of success.

The UEP perspective is that short tenure increases probability of success due to adaptability.

On what do they disagree? On whether long tenure retention is better or short tenure.
Answer (D)

Bergh doesn't imply that adaptability is not important, only that the unique perspective is even more important. He does admit that long tenure execs do face trouble because of adaptability issues but overall do better. Hence (C) is not correct.

MartyTargetTestPrep
Thank you for this helpful response, as always.
For question 488 (The passage suggests that Bergh and a proponent of the upper echelons perspective would be most likely to disagree over which of the following), where in the passage is the support to disprove Choice E?

For question 489 (According to the passage, prior to Bergh's study, research on the role of top executives...) I am confused as to how Choice D is correct. Does this part of the passage ("existing research suggests that retaining the highest-level top executives... than retaining lower-ranked top executives") prove choice D to be incorrect?
Thank you for your time.

If you understand the big picture and the structure of the passage, the questions become straightforward.

You can read the passage and hold the structure in your head. You do not have to map the passage the way I have done.

But the writing does not take long. And the time you spend on note-making will be more than made up when you tackle the questions: when you are clear about the passage, you will do the questions much faster.

Hi
In the first question, can someone explain to me why C is the correct choice and not E ?
the research states that retaining the highest level employees will contribute more positively towards post-acquisition success than retaining lower level employees.
E states that the post acquisition success is unlikely if the lower level employees are retained, which is exactly what the research stated earlier ?
Is it because of the word "Unlikely", this is making the option extreme and that is why this is wrong ?
Or am I missing something important here ?