Mergers and acquisitions as instruments of strategic change management in higher education: Assessment measures and perceptions of success

Mergers and acquisitions of higher education institutions are relatively rare, but each merger or acquisition provides a rich and distinctive example of major strategic organizational change. In the literature on mergers of higher education organizations, there does not appear to be a clear set of financial or quality metrics to assess success. This study attempts to fill this gap in the literature, drawing upon parallels and models in the literature on business mergers and acquisitions. Specifically this study explores assessment of success of mergers of higher education institutions as perceived by different stakeholders in relation to the original stated and unstated goals of the long term strategic objectives of the mergers. For this research, a multiple case study of three sites was undertaken to explore the original goals of the merger; the outcomes of the merger; institutional performance indicators in support of or contradicting the perceptions of achievement or non-achievement of the original goals; and stakeholder perceptions of the success of the merger. The sites were chosen through a purposeful sample of mergers and acquisitions of higher education institutions from 1990 through 2007. The merger sites were the Art Institute of Boston and Lesley College (1998); Mount Vernon College and George Washington University (1999); and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (1998). In each of these cases the primary motivation for merger or acquisition was found to be economic; all other motivations were secondary and the success of the merger or acquisition was ultimately assessed by the overall institutional size and financial health of the newly combined institution or state system. This research concludes with observations of factors that facilitated the mergers that may be of value for institutional leaders considering merger and acquisition as an instrument of strategic change as well as state agencies considering merger as a means of better meeting state and regional needs