Bridging troubled waters? A comparative analysis of the project and M&A literatures

In this paper, we provide a comparative analysis of the literature on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) on the one hand, with the literature on Project Management (PM) on the other hand. Given the similarities between these two organizational and managerial phenomena, it is striking that to date the two literatures remain seemingly disparate and distant from one another. As a means of starting to bridge this gap, our comparative analysis has two goals. First, we identify potential areas of mutual learning and exploration to the benefit of both streams of research. Second, we aim to reconceptualize M&As, based on what the project literature enlightens us with. We essentially ask – to what extent can M&As be considered as projects? Our findings in both sections are presented in the form of propositions. Conclusions and a discussion on the findings end the paper.