Top Management Team Heterogeneity and the Performance of Cross-Border M&A

Abstract

In this paper, we aim to investigate the impact of the top management team (TMT) on the performance of cross-border M&A, using a sample of 270 cross-border M&A events of Chinese listed companies. We find that the heterogeneity of TMT characteristics could affect the performance of cross-border M&A in different ways. More specifically, a higher heterogeneity in gender can improve the M&A performance significantly, while more heterogeneities in tenure and overseas background lead to a significant reduction in long-term and short-term M&A performances, respectively. We believe that our study can contribute to a different perspective for the selection of the executive teams of M&A companies. This, in turn, is conducive to optimizing the structure of the senior management team, and may help companies make better decisions and improve their performance.