Dr. Sara Cohen Shabot - Women's and Gender Studies

Research topic: Laboring Bodies, Lost Selves: (Re)constructing the Birthing Subject through Phenomenology
"My project proposed a novel philosophical analysis of the experience of labor and childbirth, grounded mainly in feminist phenomenology and using an innovative approach to challenge feminist theory's current discourses and critiques of labor. This study aimed to change how feminist theory understands and relates to childbirth.
During the last two years, the ISF grant has made it possible for me to make important progress in my research on childbirth. Four papers have been accepted for publication; two of them have already appeared, in two of the best journals of feminist philosophy. One more paper is now in the process of being published in Hypatia, a prestigious journal of feminist philosophy. This paper, entitled “Domesticating Bodies: Understanding the Role of Shame in Obstetric Violence,” is the product of a collaboration with my student Keshet Korem, who recently completed her master's thesis on the subject of obstetric violence. This paper, along with the rest of the work in which I have engaged during the last two years, is evidence of the great interest that this subject raises within the academy and outside of it. I have become an authority within academia on the subject of childbirth, and especially the subject of obstetric violence: my paper on obstetric violence has been quoted in almost every study on obstetric violence published during the last year."

Prof. Michal Biron & Dr. Nir Brueller - Faculty of Management

Post-Merger Integration (PMI) Capability Development: A Systematic, Longitudinal Investigation of Decisions Made during Consecutive PMI Processes

The last decades have witnessed a surge in the number and overall volume of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Despite the appealing potential of M&A, a large body of literature shows that M&A suffer from a high failure rate. The post-merger integration (PMI) phase, which takes place after the due diligence, negotiation and closing phases, is said to bear the greatest risks for M&A success. Only a handful of empirical works exist in the area of PMI capabilities, and even less is known about the development of PMI capabilities over time. The study seeks to address this lsacuna by offering a temporal approach, studying within-organization changes in PMI capabilities, as manifested in decisions made by the acquiring firm. More specifically, we will (1) map and characterize the decisions made during the PMI phases of five consecutive acquisitions performed by a serial acquiring company; (2) analyze PMI decisions in relation to performance (in terms of decision outcomes); and (3) investigate whether and how the quality of decisions taken in focal acquisitions shapes decisions taken in later acquisitions, and how the degree of routine codification influences deviation of decisions from routine.