Publications
Publications
- September–October 2024
- Harvard Business Review
Why Multibusiness Strategies Fail and How to Make Them Succeed
By: Bharat Anand and David J. Collis
Abstract
Enterprises that own multiple businesses often have a flawed approach to strategy: They focus too much on the makeup of their portfolios and too little on enhancing the businesses in them.
Strategies for adding value to a corporation’s businesses fall on a continuum. On one end the businesses in the portfolio are completely unrelated; at the other they have many similarities. Each place on the continuum requires a different kind of organizational structure and specific management processes to support it. To succeed at execution, you need to determine where on the spectrum your business falls and then align your portfolio selection, structure, and processes with your vision of how to add value.
Strategies for adding value to a corporation’s businesses fall on a continuum. On one end the businesses in the portfolio are completely unrelated; at the other they have many similarities. Each place on the continuum requires a different kind of organizational structure and specific management processes to support it. To succeed at execution, you need to determine where on the spectrum your business falls and then align your portfolio selection, structure, and processes with your vision of how to add value.
Keywords
Citation
Anand, Bharat, and David J. Collis. "Why Multibusiness Strategies Fail and How to Make Them Succeed." Harvard Business Review 102, no. 5 (September–October 2024): 138–149.