conglomerates - Publications - Faculty & Research

November 2006 (Revised August 2008)
Supplement

China Resources Corporation (B): China Resources Microelectronics

Supplements the (A) case. Late in October 2006, China Resources (Holdings) Co., Ltd. (CRC) CEO Charlie Song Lin, CFO Jiang Wel, and Information Center GM Derek Cheng were traveling from Hong Kong to Wuxi, China to attend the first ever meeting of China Resources... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Conglomerates; Profit; Governance Controls; Management Systems; Business Strategy; China

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July 2024
Module Note

Organization: Managing the Corporation

By: David J. Collis

Ongoing management of the corporate portfolio is critical to realizing value in diversified companies. This requires designing and administering structures, systems, and processes appropriate for the set of businesses and the resources that underpin value creation... View Details

Keywords: Organization; Corporate Strategy; Business Conglomerates; Business or Company Management; Diversification; Value Creation

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20 Sep 2018
Cold Call Podcast

Did Entrepreneur Ernesto Tornquist Help or Hurt Argentina?

Keywords: Re: Geoffrey G. Jones; Manufacturing

January 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Supplement

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and The Cost of Capital (Abridged)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

In 2000, Eaton Corporation was a broadly diversified industrial conglomerate. But its strategy was evolving and its focus was narrowing around “power management” and more recently on “intelligent power,” the use of digitally enabled products and services designed to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland

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July 2021
Teaching Note

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and the Cost of Capital

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 221-006 and 221-070. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland

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April 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Supplement

Governance at Metallgesellschaft (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Samanta Graff

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Corporate Accountability; Business Conglomerates; Governing and Advisory Boards; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Governance; Mining Industry; Chemical Industry; Germany; United States

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April 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Governance at Metallgesellschaft (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Samanta Graff

MG Corp., a U.S. subsidiary of Germany's international conglomerate, Metallgesellschaft, engaged in a disastrous hedging strategy that nearly dragged the entire enterprise into bankruptcy. This case explores issues of responsibility and accountability among the... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Corporate Accountability; Business Conglomerates; Governing and Advisory Boards; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Governance; Mining Industry; Chemical Industry; Germany; United States

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March 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Bertelsmann AG

By: Bharat N. Anand, Michael G. Rukstad and Christoph Kostring

On July 28, 2002, Bertelsmann announced the firing of its CEO, Thomas Middelhoff, in a move that surprised industry observers, analysts, and many employees. Bertelsmann, a privately held company headquartered in Germany, was one of the largest global media... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Corporate Strategy; Entertainment; Media; Change Management; Integration; Resignation and Termination; Private Ownership; Initial Public Offering; Business Units; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; Music Industry; Germany

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November 1990 (Revised June 1993)
Case

FMC Corp.: A Recapitalization

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Julie H. Hertenstein

A proposed recapitalization will use new debt to pay a large dividend to some shareholders in return for a reduction of their voting power. The result will be a highly leveraged financial structure and negative owners' equity. Students can trace the effects of proposed... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financial Strategy; Asset Management; Financial Management; Business Conglomerates; Borrowing and Debt; Business and Shareholder Relations; Capital Structure; Equity; Private Equity; Chemical Industry

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Find at Harvard

20 Aug 2024
Book

Why Competing With Tech Giants Requires Finding Your Own Edge

significantly reduce their downside risks and quickly begin to benefit from the ecosystem. Ping An’s ecosystems. Ping An started as a thirteen-person small property and casualty insurance office in China’s southern city of Shenzhen in 1988 and grew to become a View Details

Keywords: by Feng Zhu; Technology; Information Technology

November 2000 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Tellme Networks, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Nicole Tempest

Tellme, an early-stage, venture-backed company based in Silicon Valley, leverages speech-recognition technologies to provide: 1) a "voice portal" with news and other information accessible through any telephone, and 2) turnkey application development and hosting... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Business Conglomerates; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Venture Capital; Technology Adoption; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Information Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry

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30 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Vanguard, Trian And The Problem With 'Passive' Index Funds

“activist investors,” seeing typical activist funds more focused on short-term value creation than on the long term.) In the case of the diversified conglomerate DuPont, Trian identified a host of problems including a structure that... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

12 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 12, 2017

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53601 Harvard Business School Case 718-008 'Clarín Lies!': Bias, Post-Truth, and Populism in Argentina's Media War In 2012, Argentine media conglomerate Grupo Clarín and President Cristina... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 1

diversified conglomerate in Thailand and expanded the business in Southeast Asia and China. While growing the business, he and his brothers created a holding company to both maintain and separate the interests of the family from the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 16

sensitivity of investment is lower in countries with better-developed financial markets. This suggests that financial development may mitigate financial constraints. This effect is weaker in conglomerate subsidiaries, which are likely to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 6, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=507005 Chief Timothy Adeola Odutola and Nigeria's Manufacturing Sector Harvard Business School Case 407-027 Chief Timothy Adeola Odutola was an important contributor to Nigeria's manufacturing sector,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

08 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 8

one of the largest and most important conglomerates in the Philippines and has been controlled by the Zobel de Ayala family for seven generations. Company leadership must decide whether to alter their strategy in the wake of an election... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, October 3, 2017

personalities of candidates and ending with artificial intelligence (machine learning) to produce high-quality recommendations to companies about whom they should hire. The case then articulates precisely how three companies—airline ANA (All-Nippon Airways), global... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

09 Dec 2008
First Look

First Look: December 9, 2008

b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=609050 NEC Electronics Harvard Business School Case 209-001 Why do shares in NEC Electronics, a publicly listed subsidiary of Japan conglomerate NEC, trade at a discount to their fundamental value? Can... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace