Practitioners have begun to emphasize the crucial role of supply chains in thriving through mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Yet, extant research has mainly focused on internal post-M&A integration, i.e., integration between the merging firms, and largely overlooked the adaptation and coordination of their supply chains. This study examines how a firm’s position in the supply chain network, i.e., betweenness centrality and structural holes, mitigates complexity and risks in post-M&A integration and ultimately buffers up its operational performance. We find that the firm’s betweenness centrality in the supply chain network has a significant risk-buffering effect on the negative relationship between M&As and operational performance whereas the firm’s structural hole position does not. As such, our study reveals that the control and mobilization of suppliers are the key to external coordination for post-M&A integration. By contrast, the information advantage from structural holes is difficult to implement and could not convert to effective supplier mobilization and coordination.
