Corporate Strategy
Tools for Analysis and Decision-Making

Many companies are not single businesses but a collection of businesses with one or more levels of corporate management. Written for managers, advisors and students aspiring to these roles, this book is a guide to decision-making in the domain of corporate strategy. It arms readers with research-based tools needed to make good corporate strategy decisions and to assess the soundness of the corporate strategy decisions of others. Readers will learn how to do the analysis for answering questions such as 'Should we pursue an alliance or an acquisition to grow?', 'How much should we integrate this acquisition?' and 'Should we divest this business?'. The book draws on the authors' wealth of research and teaching experience at INSEAD, London Business School and University College London. A range of learning aids, including easy-to-comprehend examples, decision templates and FAQs, are provided in the book and on a rich companion website.

Acknowledgements; Introduction: what this book is about and how to use it; Part I. Foundations: 1. Corporate advantage; 2. Synergies: benefits to collaboration; 3. Governance costs: impediments to collaboration; Part II. Decisions about Portfolio Composition: Increasing the Scope of the Corporation: 4. Diversification; 5. Ally or acquire?; 6. Organic or inorganic growth?; Part III. Decisions about Portfolio Composition: Reducing the Scope of the Corporation: 7. Refocusing; 8. Divestiture: stay or exit; 9. Outsourcing: make or buy; Part IV. Decisions about Portfolio Organization: 10. Designing the multi-business corporation; 11. Designing corporate headquarters; 12. Managing the M&A process; 13. Managing the alliance process; Index.

Phanish Puranam is the Roland Berger Chair Professor of Strategy and Organization Design, and Academic Director of the Ph.D. programme at INSEAD. He was previously Chair of the PhD programme at London Business School. A leading researcher, teacher and advisor in the areas of corporate strategy and organization design, Phanish has won several honours for his work. He received his PhD at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Bart Vanneste is Associate Professor of Strategy at the School of Management, University College London. He researches and teaches corporate strategy, with a focus on the design and management of inter-organizational relationships. He received his PhD at the London Business School.