• April 2025
• Case

In February 2024, Fresenius CEO Michael Sen reflected on the company’s transformation journey from his office in Bad Homburg, Germany. With revenues of 22 billion and a mission to advance patient care, Fresenius had built a strong reputation through decades of acquisitions and dividend growth. However, between 2017 and 2022, the company’s share price dropped over 70% as financial and operational performance sharply declined. When Sen became CEO in October 2022, he recognized the need for a fundamental reset. In response, Sen and the leadership team launched #FutureFresenius, a bold transformation plan that began with changes to the company’s structure, portfolio, and financial framework. By early 2024, key structural changes were in motion, and momentum was building. Looking ahead, the turnaround required deeper cultural shifts and further development of the company’s target operating models. Sen believed in the progress made but faced a critical question: Was Fresenius executing the transformation in the right sequence, at the right speed, and with the right priorities to ensure long-term success? This case study examines the challenges of corporate transformation, the role of leadership in driving change, and the importance of aligning stakeholders in a high-stakes turnaround.

• 2025
• Working Paper

We show that when firms compete via supply functions, transferring high-cost capacity to the largest, most efficient firm—thereby diversifying its production technologies while increasing concentration—can lower prices by prompting the leader to expand output and competitors to aggressively defend market shares. However, large transfers prove anticompetitive, as sizable capacity differences discourage price undercutting. Exploiting renewable intermittencies in Colombia’s electricity market, where firms are technology-diversified, we consistently find a U-shape relationship between prices and concentration. Counterfactually reallocating 30% of competitors’ high-cost capacities to the leader cuts prices 10%, while larger transfers raise them, revealing how capacity and efficiency influence market power.

• April 2025
• Case

In 2023, Breezm, a South Korean startup, faced a strategic decision about how to grow its innovative 3D-printed, custom-fit eyewear business. Co-founded in 2017 by Zenma Park and Wooseok Sung, Breezm combined facial scanning, AI, and in-house production to solve the problem of ill-fitting glasses. With $4.5 million in 2022 revenue and a vertically integrated direct to consumer (DTC) model, the company aimed to go public by 2027. The founders now had to decide whether to optimize operations in Seoul, expand across Korea, or pursue international growth to reach scale and profitability. Each path presented different risks and opportunities. Domestic optimization could improve margins but limit long-term growth. National expansion would tap into new Korean markets, but face intense price competition. Global expansion offered the largest potential, yet required overcoming regulatory hurdles and investing in brand-building abroad. The choice would shape Breezm’s path to becoming a global leader in personalized eyewear.