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Product cover image for Challenging the Distance: OvareGroup's Creative Pursuit

Challenging the Distance: OvareGroup's Creative Pursuit

Philip Davidson, David Ong, Lucas Graboski

Product #:W46947
Supplier:Ivey/Haskayne
Discipline:International Business, Strategy
Setting:Argentina, Canada, United States, 2025
Details:Case (PDF) • 10 pages • 2026-04-16

Subjects:

International businessStrategyMergers and acquisitions

Industries:

Information technology and telecom sector

Geography:

ArgentinaCanadaUnited States
Your Price:$10.54

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Brandi Lafontaine was the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the American marketing firm OvareGroup. She obtained the promotion from chief data officer after using data to show that the firm could not build its brand while pursuing tangential mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities. Both the prior president and the CEO had enjoyed the M&A angle and left the firm when the board backed Lafontaine, but not before they had entered a strategic alignment with an agency in Argentina. The deal had a significant financial penalty if OvareGroup did not fully acquire the agency in 2025. Although the partnership showed strong potential for acquiring marketing talent, it also revealed numerous risks across the cultural, administrative, geographic, and economic dimensions identified in Ghemawat’s CAGE framework. It was now time to buy or walk away.

Learning Objectives

This case is primarily an international business case, designed to highlight why firms pursue international activities, the risks that accompany such activity, and factors and strategies that mitigate these risks. It is appropriate for use in both undergraduate and graduate business programs. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:
  • Identify the pursuit of resources and capabilities that build competitive advantage—specifically those that are valuable, rare, inimitable, and organized—as a primary reason for firms to pursue foreign direct investment.
  • Identify the challenges raised by distances that complicate international expansion.
  • Recognize the value of non-location-bound firm-specific advantages when entering new markets.
  • Recognize the use of strategic alliances as a staged entry model to reduce the risk of international expansion.
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Case Study: Challenging the Distance: OvareGroup's Creative Pursuit (English version) | Ivey Publishing