Managers can separate the real opportunities for synergy from the mirages, say Michael Goold and Andrew Campbell of the Ashridge Strategic Management...

For most companies, organization design is neither a science nor an art; it's an oxymoron. Organizational structures evolve in fits and starts, shaped...

The huge sums that private equity firms make on their investments evoke admiration and envy. Typically, these returns are attributed to the firms' aggressive...

Almost every company wants to develop its businesses over time and earn high profits immediately, to respond quickly to market changes and make careful...

The trend is to downsize corporate headquarters--but sometimes a bigger HQ is better.

While the core competence concept appealed powerfully to companies disillusioned with diversification, it did not offer any practical guidelines for developing...

Here's how you can decide on the right size and composition of your corporate staff.

Britain's Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), founded in 1926, was for decades the dominant producer in its home market. As early as the 1940s, the board...

Sargon’s leaders are trying to get more milk out of their cash cow. Should they be?

One of the most challenging decisions a company can confront is whether to diversify. The rewards and risks are extraordinary. Success stories such as...

Conglomerates once dominated the U.S. business world. But by the 1980s, they'd been laid low by poor performance, inspiring the belief that focused corporations...

Firms with ill-considered globalization strategies, say Alexander and Korine of London Business School, are poised to become targets for breakup or overhaul...