Intercultural mergers and acquisitions as 'legitimacy crises' of models of capitalism: a UK-German case study.

Halsall, Robert

Abstract

This article examines media discourse surrounding two UK-German intercultural business controversies: the takeover of the German company Mannesmann by the British company Vodafone in 1999, and the disposal of its British subsidiary Rover by its German parent company BMW in 2000. These controversies were framed in the media of both countries as part of a clash of cultures of capitalism, with the Anglo-Saxon model on one side and the German social model on the other, and can be seen as legitimacy crises of the two models of capitalism involved. The article examines how cultural, economic and political discourses relating to globalization were used strategically by actors to deal with these crises, in order to legitimize a neoliberal transformation of the German model in the first case, and to legitimize a rebranding of the UK model in line with a move from a concentration on manufacturing to a service economy in the second.

Citation

HALSALL, R. 2008. Intercultural mergers and acquisitions as 'legitimacy crises' of models of capitalism: a UK-German case study. Organization [online], 15(6), pages 787-809. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508408091003

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 30, 2008
• Online Publication Date: Nov 30, 2008
• Publication Date: Nov 30, 2008
• Deposit Date: Nov 16, 2009
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 16, 2009
• Journal: Organization
• Print ISSN: 1350-5084
• Electronic ISSN: 1461-7323
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 787-809
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508408091003
• Keywords: Models of capitalism; Globalisation; Discourse; Intercultural mergers; Legitimacy crisis
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/437