<iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-PHTV9K7" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden">
Loading
Skip to Main Content
Product cover image for Alphabet Eyes New Frontiers (B)

Alphabet Eyes New Frontiers (B)

Alcacer, Juan; Sadun, Raffaella; Stoppiello, Kate

Product #:724473
Supplier:Harvard Business School
Discipline:Strategy
Setting:California;United States, 2016
Details:Supplemental Case (PDF) • 26 pages • 2024-03-26 (Rev: 2024-05-31)

Subjects:

Strategy

Industries:

Construction and engineering

Geography:

CaliforniaUnited StatesNorth America
Your Price:$7.09

Purchase this material with a free Educator Account and enjoy more benefits:

  • Free Educator Copy
  • Free Teaching Notes
  • Build your coursepack
  • Discounted academic price

In October 2015, Google restructured into Alphabet, a holding company, which analysts said would facilitate innovation among its diverse subsidiaries. But when news reports surfaced revealing struggles within Alphabet companies including Nest, the smart thermostat maker, observers began to wonder if the reorganization made sense after all.

Learning Objectives

The case explores the economic rationale behind the conglomerate model of corporate strategy. The discussion can be used to explore several themes, including: a) How do conglomerates - i.e. the common ownership of loosely-related businesses under a common corporate umbrella -create value? b) Does the conglomerate model of corporate strategy make sense in the context of subsidiaries involved in breakthrough innovations? What organizational factors may help or hinder value creation in this setting?
Loading
Supplemental Case Study: Alphabet Eyes New Frontiers (B) (English version) | Ivey Publishing