Publications

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Supplement

GE's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

CEO Jeff Immelt, ex-CEO Jack Welch, and HR Chief Bill Conaty discuss how GE has made talent development a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Immelt describes GE's deeply embedded philosophy around its people and how it has allowed the company to add value... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Business or Company Management; Performance Capacity; Performance Effectiveness; Competitive Advantage; System; Value

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

March 2001
Case

Sime Darby Berhad (C): Responding to the Asian Crisis

By: Tarun Khanna and Danielle Melito Wu

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Conglomerates; Economy; Capital Markets; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; Malaysia

September 2024
Case

Topaz: Navigating Governance, Legacy, and Change

By: Christina R. Wing and Carla Larangeira

Since its founding in 2011, the Garza Sada brothers and their father positioned Topaz among leading family offices in Monterrey, Mexico, with several assets under management. Topaz aspired to have a transformative impact across multiple Mexican industries. An industry... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Family Business; Governing and Advisory Boards; Managerial Roles; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Corporate Governance; Organizational Structure; Adoption; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; Education Industry; Energy Industry; Latin America; Mexico

June 1991 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Takeover of the Norton Co., The

By: Thomas R. Piper

After a decade of mediocre performance, the Norton Co. enters 1990 with the prospect of increased sales in the next few years. Yet Norton is pursuing slow growth industries, and a lower than expected earnings announcement at the beginning of 1990 has depressed earnings... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Goals and Objectives; Forecasting and Prediction; Performance Evaluation; Revenue; Bids and Bidding; Business Processes; Ownership Stake

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

December 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Kanebo Ltd. (A)

By: David F. Hawkins, Suraj Srinivasan, Akiko Kanno and Lizzie Gomez

Speculation as to how Japanese companies might implement IFRS with particular emphasis on consolidation accounting. View Details

Keywords: History; Business Conglomerates; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Consolidation; Financial Statements; International Finance; International Accounting; Standards; Goodwill Accounting; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

March 1998 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Tyco International

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery, Robert E. Kennedy, Lisa J. Chadderdon and Hal Hogan

Tyco, a diversified U.S. conglomerate, has grown rapidly for more than 20 years. This case examines Tyco's acquisition strategy as well as its internal control systems. View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Corporate Strategy; Business or Company Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; United States

27 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 27, 2007

Russian conglomerate that has become the third largest shareholder in SUN Interbrew, has announced its intention to take part in the company's management and attain a leading position in the Russian beer market. Is there a role for the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

Who is Boss in the Sharing Economy?

When is a company not a company? A modern-day Zen koan, maybe, but the evidence is all around us—Airbnb, Elance-oDesk, Handy, HourlyNerd, TaskRabbit, Uber. These businesses seem much more like conglomerations of independent professionals... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Service; Technology

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Psychology, Pathology, and the CEO

respect as the TV unit. The sports division had to fight for airtime. Employees regularly went to the press to air grievances, reinforcing the BBC's culture of blame. Invensys: A global conglomerate that was created largely through... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

March 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Oscar de la Renta

By: Bharat N. Anand, Elizabeth Lea Carpenter and Samhita Patwardhan Jayanti

Over three decades, Oscar de la Renta (ODLR) had established itself as one of the premier luxury brands in America. Its mainstay business had always been producing and marketing high-priced, couture/ready-to-wear luxury goods. Now, in September 2003, it faced a series... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Borrowing and Debt; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Production; Family Ownership; Luxury; Competition; Diversification; Expansion; United States

July 2001
Teaching Note

Newell Company: Corporate Strategy TN

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery

Teaching Note for (9-799-139). A rewritten version of an earlier teaching note. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Strategy; Diversification; Strategic Planning; Acquisition; Business Conglomerates; Horizontal Integration; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Retail Industry

2011
Working Paper

From Social Control to Financial Economics: The Linked Ecologies of Economics and Business in Twentieth Century America

By: Marion Fourcade and Rakesh Khurana

As the main producers of managerial elites, business schools represent strategic research sites for understanding the formation of economic practices and representations. This article draws on historical material to analyze the changing place of economics in American... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Practice; Business Education; Labor and Management Relations; Decision Making; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Change; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Finance; Knowledge; Production; Business Conglomerates; Education Industry; United States

Read Now

October 2001 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Provident Life and Accident Insurance: The Acquisition of Paul Revere

By: Mihir A. Desai, Frank Williamson, Mark Veblen and Yuming Zou

Provident Life & Accident Insurance Co. has made an initial bid to acquire a primary competitor, Paul Revere, from conglomerate, Textron. The due diligence process uncovers a significant block of problematic disability insurance policies. Provident is forced to assess... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Financial Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Policy; Investment; Business Strategy; Cash Flow; Price; Bids and Bidding; Financial Reporting; Business Conglomerates; Insurance Industry; Service Industry

24 Nov 2014
Research & Ideas

Corrupting Silence: Companies Must Speak Up Against Bribes

In a 2012 Harvard Business School case on corruption at German conglomerate Siemens AG, Peter Solmssen —brought in to clean house —reflects on how people approach a business bribe. "The stupid ones say, very simply, what are you going to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

14 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Water, Electricity, and Transportation: Preparing for the Population Boom

By 2050, the Earth's population will likely exceed 9 billion people, up 30 percent from 6.9 billion today, according to projections from both the US Census Bureau and the United Nations. What's more, the population in the world's cities is expected to increase by 3... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

03 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

The Ingredients of a Deal Disaster

inadvertently omitted from social contract negotiations. For example, in 1988, Komatsu, Japan's leader in earth-moving construction equipment, and U.S. conglomerate Dresser Industries combined their North American engineering,... View Details

Keywords: by Ron S. Fortgang, David A. Lax & James K. Sebenius

December 1992 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Becton Dickinson Division: Marketing Organization

By: Frank V. Cespedes

The marketing director for the largest division of a health care products company is reviewing the structure and staffing of the division's marketing organization. The division has authorization to hire an additional marketing manager. Hence, the immediate case... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Health Care and Treatment; Human Resources; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Managerial Roles; Product Marketing; Measurement and Metrics; Organizational Structure; Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Health Industry