Deadly sins and corporate acquisitions

Although having grown significantly to constitute a strong influence in several fields of business research, research on corporate acquisitions still needs fresh voices. Research on acquisitions is dominated by functionalist studies searching for ways to improve financial outcomes. In contrast, this paper draws on a narrative approach to provide a new perspective to corporate acquisitions. We focus on decision-makers and how a metaphor that highlights human foibles connected to sins can offer a new understanding of corporate acquisitions. Engaging with acquisition literature and underpinning our argument with examples from well-known acquisitions, provides a new way of understanding commonly identified but socially unaccepted outcomes from acquisitions generally described as unintended and unwanted.