Abstract: “Based on four post-acquisition experiences of one global medical system manufacturing firm, this study examines how knowledge cleansing occurs in post-acquisition integration. The two factors are important in explaining cleansing after the acquisition: the perceived strategic value of acquired knowledge and the target firm’s certainty level on protecting its knowledge. The case finding shows four cases are divided into two highcleansing and two low-cleansing cases. Both the combination of high value of knowledge and high certainty of knowledge protection and the combination of low value of knowledge and low certainty of knowledge protection turned out as high cleansing. In contrast, high-low and low-high combinations of the two factors resulted in low cleansing. Based on this categorization, the study develops the process model of knowledge cleansing in post-acquisition integration. This study sheds new light on the knowledge management study in post acquisitio integration.”

Keywords: Knowledge, Cleansing, Knowledge expansion,