Publications

April 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

News Corporation

By: Bharat N. Anand and Kate Attea

In 2001, News Corp. is the smallest of the major media and entertainment conglomerates, but it has the broadest global presence. In an effort to establish a major distribution presence in the United States, News Corp. had looked to acquire DirecTV, the largest U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Conglomerates; Globalization; Distribution; Organizational Culture; Family Ownership; Competition; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Journalism and News Industry; United States; Australia

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

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

18 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, April 18, 2018

War II and the relative decline in importance of internationally-focused business groups during the second half of the twentieth century. The chapter then discusses the rise and fall of diversified and conglomerate type of groups like... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Blog

Emerging from the Pandemic: Insights from South Asia and ASEAN

program in Boston. One recent success story of which we are particularly proud is Kasturi Wilson, who attended SELPI three years ago and was recently promoted to serve as the first female CEO of a conglomerate in Sri Lanka. We try to... View Details

01 Dec 1996
News

Laurel without Hardy? A Lesson for Business

isolation. You have to look at the whole picture. What businesses should you be in? With the fallout from the conglomerate era fresh in people's minds, the prevailing wisdom is not to expand beyond your core business. People say, "Stick... View Details

18 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas, April 18

It was hardly the first industrial conglomerate to spin off major divisions; Tyco International PLC, ITT Corporation, Illinois Tool Works, Johnson Controls, and Ingersoll-Rand PLC had made similar moves in recent memory. However, its... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

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; Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Managerial Roles; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; Education Industry; Energy Industry; Latin America; Mexico

September 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Supplement

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and The Cost of Capital

By: Benjamin C. Esty, 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 2006
News

The Little Ice-Cream Company That Could

companies,” says Rogers. The Anglo-Dutch packaged-goods conglomerate Unilever had already bought Breyers. (It would buy Ben & Jerry’s in 2000.) Simultaneously, the Swiss food conglomerate Nestlé began to... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing

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

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

19 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 19, 2018

Japan's Dream Machine: Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. Recruit Holdings, an advertising media, staffing, and business support conglomerate was founded in 1960 by Hiromasa Ezoe. Recruit was built on the principle that the company should add... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

03 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 3

this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/815070-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 715-432 Group Functions at the Maersk Group In 2014, seven years after he was appointed CEO of the Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2010
Teaching Note

Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy (TN)

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

Teaching Note for [308058]. View Details

Keywords: Business History; Global Strategy; Business Conglomerates; Vertical Integration; Goals and Objectives; Mergers and Acquisitions; Auto Industry; China; United States