Why good things Don’t happen: the micro-foundations of routines in the M&A process

•We recognise that vast sums are spent on M&A that do not complete•The strategic decision making process is key but under researched.•We show the authorization routine is shown to be critical to acquisition outcome.•A micro-foundational perspective unpacks the routine to the individual level.•Performative variation and routine interdependencies are key to routine outcome.

Why do organizations reject favorable opportunities - why don't good things happen? To address this question, we examine companies that fail to proceed with major opportunities for strategic renewal. By focusing upon routines in 28 cases of reverse mergers and acquisitions decisions across three continents, the research uncovers the centrality of a hitherto overlooked process, the authorization routine. The characteristics of this routine, and its nested nature, are shown to be critical to whether favorable opportunities are progressed. These findings contribute to the mergers and acquisition literature by extending prior process models and to the routines literature by showing how links and interactions between different layers of routines, and the nature of the routine enactment itself, are important in affecting strategic outcomes.