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Diversification via Acquisition: Creating Value
Mergers and acquisitions Magazine ArticleDuring the past 25 years an increasing proportion of U.S. companies have seen wisdom in pursuing a strategy of diversification. Between 1950 and 1970, for example, single-business companies comprising the Fortune “500” declined from 30% to 8% of the total. Acquisition has become a standard approach to diversification. In recent years the productivity of capital […] -
Go Downstream: The New Profit Imperative in Manufacturing
Business models Magazine ArticleNow that providing services is more lucrative than making products, the old foundations for success in manufacturing are crumbling. Smart manufacturers are creating new business models to capture profits at the customer’s end of the value chain. -
The Missing Ingredient in Kraft Heinz’s Restructuring
Mergers and acquisitions Digital ArticleAs the company cut costs, its ability to innovate suffered. -
Stock or Cash?: The Trade-Offs for Buyers and Sellers in Mergers and Acquisitions
Accounting Magazine ArticleCompanies are increasingly paying for acquisitions with stock rather than cash. But both they and the companies they acquire need to understand just how big a difference that decision can make to the value shareholders will get from a deal. -
M&A Needn't Be a Loser's Game
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleThree out of four acquisitions fail; they destroy wealth for the buyer's shareholders, who end up worse off than they would have been had the deal not... -
Should Regulators Block AT&T’s Acquisition of T-Mobile?
Mergers and acquisitions Digital ArticleAT&T’s recently announced acquisition of T-Mobile will invite hellfire from telecom regulators who fantasize over a different market structure, in which 17 mom-and-pop carriers serve the masses with tender love and care. As an economist, and as a customer of AT&T (with my mom, wife, and oldest daughter on my account), I am not so […] -
The Gentleman's "Three" (HBR Case Study)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleHow do you reduce headcount when almost everyone gets the same scores on performance reviews? HR vice president Nils Ekdahl confronts that question at... -
Discipline and the Dilutive Deal
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleA merger that immediately boosts your earnings per share is better than one that dilutes it, right? Wrong. -
All the Wrong Moves (HBR Case Study and Commentary)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleNutrorim's products have been gaining national attention. In particular, sales of the company's organic, performance-enhancing sports supplement powder,... -
The Pandemic Will Fuel Consolidation in U.S. Health Care
Global Business Digital ArticleCongress and regulators must curb combinations that adversely affect the cost and quality of care. -
Amazon and Zappos: A Savvy Deal
Sales & Marketing Digital ArticleIt's been one heck of a July for Tony Hsieh, CEO of Internet superstar Zappos.com. A week or so ago, Hsieh passed the one-million-follower mark on Twitter... -
All the Wrong Moves (Commentary for HBR Case Study)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleNutrorim's products have been gaining national attention. In particular, sales of the company's organic, performance-enhancing sports supplement powder,... -
The CVS-Aetna Merger Hinges on One Question: What Do Consumers Get Out of It?
Mergers and acquisitions Digital ArticleIt’s a test of what creating value means today. -
Is Your Strategic Alliance Really a Sale?
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleIncreasingly, senior executives who wish to expand their company's product, geographic, or customer reach consider alliances to be the strategic vehicle... -
Strategic Analysis for More Profitable Acquisitions
Financial analysis Magazine ArticleLess than a decade after the frantic merger activity of the late 1960s, we are again in the midst of a major wave of corporate acquisitions. In contrast to the 1960s, when acquirers were mainly freewheeling conglomerates, the merger movement in the 1970s includes such long-established giants of U.S. industry as General Electric, Gulf Oil, […] -
Get Your Piece of the Merger Dividend
Mergers and acquisitions Digital ArticleEditor’s Note: This blog post is a sneak-peek to the upcoming article, “The Merger Dividend,” by Ron Ashkenas and his colleagues Suzanne Francis and Rick Heinick, which will appear in the July-August issue of HBR. Over the last ten years, I’ve talked with hundreds of managers who have been deeply involved in the post-merger/acquisition integration […] -
A Yahoo Break-Up Could Be the Start of Lots of Splits
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleNow that the M&A wave is ebbing, divestment strategies are gathering steam. -
Rethinking Negotiation
Communication Magazine ArticleFor decades, negotiators have been working out agreements by focusing on interests, not positions. But the messy problem of how to share the gains created... -
Sodexo’s CEO on Smart Diversification
Strategy Magazine ArticleThe Idea: Landel uses four basic rules to decide what services to offer and where. The overarching goal is to improve people’s lives, whether they work for client companies or for Sodexo itself. -
Disney Buys Marvel: Designing 3D Brands
Customer experience Digital ArticleMany comic fans around the world, my eldest son John included, will bemoan today’s announcement that the Disney entertainment zaibatsu will swallow up Marvel Comics and its 5,000 characters for $4 billion. Years ago I, too, spent my hard-earned shoveling money on Spiderman, The Hulk, Fantastic Four, and especially Iron Man. (I’ve seen all their […]
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Royal Bank of Scotland Group: The Human Capital Strategy
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details Describes the development and implementation of one of the world's most advanced human resource management support systems. The Royal Bank of Scotland... -
The Board of Directors at Market Basket
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details The firing of Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas, and directors affiliated with Arthur set off employee protests throughout... -
JBS Swift & Co.
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Brazilian meat packer JBS surprised many in the U.S. beef industry when it acquired Swift & Co.--a company more than five times its size--in 2007, then... -
Shady Trail
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Holt Lunsford was intrigued by the packet of papers that lay in front of him. The papers comprised a brochure that Lonestar Bank had put together in an... -
Microsoft/Intuit
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Microsoft Corp. proposes to acquire Intuit Corp. Examines the strategic fit and the price proposed to complete the transaction. -
HBR's 10 Must Reads on Change Management, Vol. 2 (with bonus article "Accelerate!" by John P. Kotter)
24.95View Details Lead change amid constant turbulence and disruption. Get more of the ideas you want, from the authors you trust, with "HBR's 10 Must Reads on Change Management... -
Mãe Terra and Unilever (A)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details The case concerns the sale of Mae Terra, one of Brazil's leading brands for packaged organic foods, to the consumer goods giant Unilever in 2017. Working... -
Handspring and Palm, Inc: A Corporate Drama in Five Acts
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Follows Jeff Hawkins, Donna Dubinsky, and, later, Ed Colligan from the founding of Palm, Inc., through the founding of Handspring, to the point that Handspring... -
Acquisition of Consolidated Rail Corp. (B)
Finance & Accounting Case Study5.00View Details Eight days after CSX announced it was going to buy Consolidated Rail (Conrail) for $88.65 per share, Norfolk Southern made a hostile $100 per share bid... -
Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and The Cost of Capital (Abridged)
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details In 2000, Eaton Corporation was a broadly diversified industrial conglomerate. But its strategy was evolving and its focus was narrowing around "power... -
Kent Thiry: "Mayor" of DaVita
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details Kent Thiry, CEO of dialysis provider DaVita, is considering how to integrate employees from recently acquired Gambro Healthcare without damaging DaVita's... -
WPP--Integrating Icons to Leverage Knowledge
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Martin Sorrell has used WPP to acquire a large portfolio of marketing service firms including J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather. How did he make... -
Hoechst in the United States (A)
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details Describes the U.S. market for chemicals following WW II to the present and the attention of the market for global chemical companies. Traces the involvement... -
Lagunitas Brewing Company
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details The CEO of a California-based craft brewery manages new partnership with-and potential acquisition by-industry giant Heineken. -
Tim Hortons Inc.
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details In 2014, Tim Hortons Inc., a powerhouse in the Canadian quick service restaurant industry for 50 years, has a number of strategic choices to make if it... -
ADP
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details ADP is an American success story. The founder, with modest beginnings and a good idea, turns a company that does the payroll for a few companies in New... -
Credit Risk Evaluation of a Bridge Loan
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Using the example of the acquisition of Syngenta by ChemChina in 2016/17, the case highlights the credit, legal and regulatory risks associated with a... -
PMC-Sierra: Riding the Waves of Disruption (B)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study5.00View Details The (B) case starts with PMC-Sierra's decision to acquire for $100 million a solid state drive controller business, which included a prototype and a team...
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Diversification via Acquisition: Creating Value
Mergers and acquisitions Magazine ArticleDuring the past 25 years an increasing proportion of U.S. companies have seen wisdom in pursuing a strategy of diversification. Between 1950 and 1970, for example, single-business companies comprising the Fortune “500” declined from 30% to 8% of the total. Acquisition has become a standard approach to diversification. In recent years the productivity of capital […] -
Go Downstream: The New Profit Imperative in Manufacturing
Business models Magazine ArticleNow that providing services is more lucrative than making products, the old foundations for success in manufacturing are crumbling. Smart manufacturers are creating new business models to capture profits at the customer’s end of the value chain. -
The Missing Ingredient in Kraft Heinz’s Restructuring
Mergers and acquisitions Digital ArticleAs the company cut costs, its ability to innovate suffered. -
Royal Bank of Scotland Group: The Human Capital Strategy
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details Describes the development and implementation of one of the world's most advanced human resource management support systems. The Royal Bank of Scotland... -
The Board of Directors at Market Basket
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details The firing of Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas, and directors affiliated with Arthur set off employee protests throughout... -
JBS Swift & Co.
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Brazilian meat packer JBS surprised many in the U.S. beef industry when it acquired Swift & Co.--a company more than five times its size--in 2007, then... -
Shady Trail
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Holt Lunsford was intrigued by the packet of papers that lay in front of him. The papers comprised a brochure that Lonestar Bank had put together in an... -
Microsoft/Intuit
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Microsoft Corp. proposes to acquire Intuit Corp. Examines the strategic fit and the price proposed to complete the transaction. -
HBR's 10 Must Reads on Change Management, Vol. 2 (with bonus article "Accelerate!" by John P. Kotter)
24.95View Details Lead change amid constant turbulence and disruption. Get more of the ideas you want, from the authors you trust, with "HBR's 10 Must Reads on Change Management... -
Mãe Terra and Unilever (A)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details The case concerns the sale of Mae Terra, one of Brazil's leading brands for packaged organic foods, to the consumer goods giant Unilever in 2017. Working...