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Background Note
| HBS Case Collection
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2005
Strategies of Unrelated Diversification
by
Bharat N. Anand and Samhita Patwardhan Jayanti
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Abstract
Conglomerates lie at the heart of debates in corporate strategy. They include, perhaps, the best known companies in history--Beatrice Corp., General Electric, ITT, Siemens, and ABB--and at various times over the last few decades have been both admired and vilified as a form of corporate organization. Regardless of the time at which these debates have occurred, they invariably focus on a few common questions, which this note addresses: Why do conglomerates exist? Do they add value to their component businesses? If so, how?
Keywords: Diversification;
Business Conglomerates;
Corporate Strategy;
Value;