Publications

February 2008 (Revised July 2008)
Case

Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy

By: Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, Keith Chi-ho Wong and Tracy Manty

With an almost forty-year history as a business in China, the Wanxiang Group has navigated through the significantly different political and economic changes in China to succeed as a global leader in the auto parts industry and to develop into a broad business... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Global Strategy; Business History; Growth and Development Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Hangzhou; United States

September 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and The Cost of Capital

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

01 Mar 2014
News

Generation Next

the conglomerate and Mumbai business circles. Above all, family-run companies in India value loyalty and seniority. But the maneuvers worked. Over the next few years, the business started to rebound, marking a turning point for Godrej,... View Details

Keywords: Mark Bergen; Godrej Group; Management

12 Feb 2021
News

How Dunkin’ Donuts Took Over the World

acted for other businesses under similar circumstances and had bought them. And they had flourished under their tutelage and under their leadership—Allied Lions, subsequently to be called Allied Domeq, a large conglomerate from the UK... View Details

Keywords: brands; leadership; management; strategy; operations; career; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

05 Nov 2021
Op-Ed

Is the Business World Finally Ready for the Wisdom of Shibusawa?

Eiichi Shibusawa continues to gain influence in Japan—even though he died almost a century ago. Japan’s government announced earlier this year that the 19th century business leader would be the face on 10,000 yen ($90) bank notes—the highest value denomination in... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones and Rei Morimoto; Financial Services; Retail

25 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Who is to Blame for 'The Great Training Robbery'?

the context matters. Corporate training is most effective when leadership has prepared the organization for change. Source: MonkeyBusinessImages Take the example of Swedish industrial conglomerate Cardo. The CEO commissioned a training... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Education

Web

Charts & Statistics - Leadership

environmental protection movements strengthen Vehicle Safety Act and Highway Safety Act Closing merger loophole opens door for conglomerate business model Influence: Medium-High 70 1970 s 19 Deregulation of oil and airline industries New... View Details

09 Jun 2024
Blog Post

The EC Formula: MBA Class of 2024 Looks Back

I. She will join Ayala Corporation, the oldest conglomerate in the Philippines, as a corporate strategy manager, where she’ll be charged with active portfolio management across its business units and investments. During your EC year, what... View Details

10 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

The COVID Two-Step for Leaders: Protect and Pivot

Danaher, a conglomerate with brands in diagnostics, life sciences, and environmental and applied solutions. "Stars practice, and they keep practicing long after they become stars." Toyota employs a system known as the Toyota Production... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden

01 Dec 2022
News

Full Court Press

Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative, and even former President Barack Obama. Strategic investors like Nigerian conglomerate owner Tunde Folawiyo and Tope Lawani (MBA 1995), co-CEO of Helios Fairfax Partners and cofounder and managing... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

September 2017
Case

Tencent

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Tencent had undergone many transformations since it was founded in 1998 as a simple messaging service. In 2017, it was the largest online games provider in China with a wide range of game types, China’s largest social networking service provider with several of the... View Details

Keywords: Tencent; Tencent Holdings; WeChat; Social Networking; Social Networks; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Video Games; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Portals; Payments; Mobile Payments; O2O; Online-to-offline; E-commerce; Messaging; Subscription Model; Freemium; Mobile App Industry; Smartphone; PC; Monetization Strategy; Antitrust; Streaming; Cloud Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Big Data; Alibaba; Facebook; JD.com; Tesla; Bundling; Synergies; Digital Strategy; Imitation; Licensing; Agility; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Restructuring; Communication; Communication Technology; Blogs; Interactive Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Industry Growth; Monopoly; Media; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Government Relations; Groups and Teams; Networks; Opportunities; Social and Collaborative Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Value Creation; Communications Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; China; Canton (province, China)

12 Jun 2017
News

Jeff Immelt to Retire as GE CEO

Immelt has been busy disassembling significant elements of the conglomerate that he began leading four days before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Immelt’s goal was to make GE more streamlined, stripping away finance and consumer... View Details

Ward Melville

After mass-producing shoes for soldiers in World War I, Melville and an associate opened Thom McAn’s in New York as a low cost, high quality shoe retailer. The chain eventually encompassed over 1,200 stores. With Thom McAn’s as its anchor retail establishment, Melville... View Details

Keywords: Retail

26 May 2016
News

Sunil B. Mittal, OPM 27, 1999

of Indian import policies, and I knew them backwards and forwards,” recalls Mittal, sitting in his office at the New Delhi headquarters of Bharti Enterprises, the multinational conglomerate he has built over the past 40 years. “Phones... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

1986
Chapter

U.K. Conglomerates: A View of Hanson Trust

By: Michael E. Porter

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; United Kingdom