Mai Anh Dao
Mai Anh is the CEO and Co-Founder of MADiscover, a Strategic Intelligence Company that integrates AI-driven big data capabilities with human strategic expertise. She understands how to translate strategic questions into quantifiable and robust analytical models.
As an expert in M&A strategy and screening, she combines rigorous academic excellence with practical application. She earned her PhD at the Department of Strategic Management at the University of Innsbruck, where her research was recognized with the Award of Excellence from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research, and Economy.
At MADiscover, she drives the vision of building a Strategic Intelligence Company that enables organizations to make strategic decisions based on objective, data-driven insights rather than chance, bias, or limited information. Alongside her entrepreneurial role, she is an active voice in the international M&A community. She connects academic excellence with corporate M&A to advance a modern understanding of strategic intelligence.
Mai Anh regularly publishes on topics such as:
- Strategic Screening:The future of strategic screening and data-driven decisions in corporate M&A
- Objective Decision-Making: Methods to reduce bias and increase objective, transparent decision quality.
- Data & AI in M&A: The use of big data, AI, and advanced analytics to enhance strategic intelligence.
- Women in M&A: As an initiator and author, she advocates for greater diversity in the M&A industry and highlights the perspectives of female leaders.
-
Der Praktikantenkeller wird obsolet!
M&A REVIEW: Frau Dr. Dao, spätestens seit der digiweek M&A 2021 kennt die Community nun Ihre Lösung. Es hat sich gezeigt, dass Ihr…
-
Mehr Zeit für Strategie – Die Automatisierung des Target Screenings
Trotz der entscheidend strategischen Rolle bei Akquisitionen erhält das M&A Target-Screening relativ wenig Aufmerksamkeit von Wissenschaft und Praxis im Vergleich…
-
Target screening: a key strategic success factor foracquisitions
This book chapter examines the role of target screening in acquisitions, highlighting its crucial impact on strategic outcomes. Despite its…
-
Women in M&A:So what?!
M&A is often considered one of the most demanding fields in the world of finance – fast-paced, highly competitive, and…
-
Frauen im M&AFrauen in M&A: Na und?!
M&A gilt oft als eines der anspruchsvollsten Felder in der Finanzwelt – schnelllebig, hoch kompetitiv und traditionell männlich dominiert. Aber…
-
Examining Links between Pre and Post M&A Value Creation Mechanisms — Exploitation, Exploration and Ambidexterity in Central European SMEs
This study examines how pre-merger strategic fit in exploration and exploitation orientations translates into post-merger value creation in Central European…
-
Transactive Memory Systems and Acquisition Performance: A Strategic Decision Making Perspective
In this article, the authors examine how Transactive Memory Systems (TMS)—the shared understanding of “who knows what” in a team—impact acquisition…
-
Run or hide: changes in acquisition behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are an important strategic tool for continuous adaptation, sustainable corporate development and external growth. At the…
-
Solving the Synergy Mystery with the Lancaster and EY “LEAP-R Approach”
One of the biggest problems in M&A is the assumption that it’s a linear process. However, we find various layers…
-
Acquisition integration capabilities and organizational design
In this article, the authors explore how organizational design choices affect the success of acquisition integrations by enhancing or constraining integration capabilities.…
-
Integration, employee resistance, and acquisition performance
In this article, we examine how employee resistance affects acquisition integration and overall performance. We find that resistance often stems from cultural clashes and…
-
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) acquisitions: Deal structure and outcome
In this article, the authors explore how integrating ESG criteria into acquisition decisions affects deal structures and post-deal outcomes. We find that acquisitions…
-
Playing Politics: An Upper Echelons Perspective on Political Behaviour During Acquisition Decision Making
In this research, the authors examine how political behaviors among senior executives impact acquisition decisions. We find that individual motivations, power dynamics, and personal agendas often influence…
-
M&A SUMMIT Spezial:Frauen in M&A: Veränderung geht nur gemeinsam
Beim M&A Summit 2024 fand ein wegweisendes Panel zum Thema Frauen in M&A statt, das Status quo, Herausforderungen und Chancen…
-
Dynamic Capabilities in Acquisitions: When Acquirer and Target Employees Face Contradictory and Complementary Human Resource Signals
Dynamic capabilities like organizational agility and M&A capabilities are crucial for firm success but can be complementary or conflicting. Conflicting…
-
A corporate M&A study: Lost in Covid – Silver lining or business as usual?
The Covid pandemic had an immediate impact on M&A activity in terms of volume and numbers. Despite a sharp downturn,…
-
Triggering Innovation Through Mergers and Acquisitions: The Role of Shared Mental Models
This study demonstrates that shared mental models – common psychological representations of tasks and teams – between acquirer and target…
-
The complementing and facilitating nature of common ground in acquisitions – why task and human integration are still necessary in the presence of common ground
This longitudinal case study reveals common ground – shared knowledge and beliefs between acquirer and target – as a double-edged…
-
Human integration following M&A: Synthesizing different M&A research streams
This comprehensive literature review synthesizes three major M&A research streams — strategic management, organizational behavior, and process perspective — to…
-
Exploration outcomes of M&A: the interplay between coordination mechanisms and acquisition experience
This research reveals how formal and informal coordination mechanisms interact with tacit and explicit M&A experience to drive post-acquisition exploration…
-
How Industry Lifecycle Sets Boundary Conditions for M&A Integration
This study demonstrates that there is no universal M&A integration approach—industry lifecycle stage fundamentally shapes which integration strategies succeed. Research…
-
The strategic realignment of paradoxical family and business goals in family business: A rhetorical history perspective
In this article, the authors investigate how family businesses manage inherent conflicts between family goals (maintaining control and harmony) and…
-
Frauen in M&A:Faszination, Konfusion und Kontroverse
In der M&A-Branche stellt sich die Frage, ob eine besondere Betrachtung der Rolle der Frau notwendig ist, da der Bereich…
-
Akquisitionsstrategien und wissensbasiertes Integrationsmanagement: Ein Vergleich zur Wirkung von Akquisitionserfahrung, Integrationsroutinen und -flexibilität
In diesem Artikel untersuchen die Autoren, wie unterschiedliche Akquisitionsstrategien — Gelegenheits-, Netzwerk- und Programmakquisitionen — spezifische Anforderungen an das wissensbasierte…