Frithjof Pils uses multiple statistical techniques to examine the true nature of the relationships between diversification strategies and accounting-based, market-based, and growth-based performance. The author shows implications for the interpretation of past research, the design of future research including the use of meta-analysis methodologies, as well as management practice.

Diplomarbeit aus dem Jahr 2008 im Fachbereich BWL - Unternehmensführung, Management, Organisation, Note: 1,7, Handelshochschule Leipzig gGmbH, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: On corporate level main strategic decisions involve the question which businesses are to be pursued and which to be neglected, i.e. how the portfolio of businesses is designed. The ultimate goal is a value adding business portfolio. This added value arises from synergies among the businesses and the role of the corporate center. In the case of success this would lead to a conglomerate premium in terms of company value. Corporate managers are generally very free in deciding what businesses they want to add to their portfolio and which to divest. This raises two questions: one regarding the type of businesses in a portfolio and the other regarding the optimal size of a portfolio. The term diversification deals with both questions: it describes how broad and how diverse a company‟s business portfolio is. On the one hand it can be very narrow or focused in a barely diversified company, on the other it can be very broad in a highly diversified company. Three forms of diversification strategies are commonly distinguished: focused, relational and conglomerate diversification. Many researchers in the field of strategic management have dealt with the question of diversification and the pros and cons involved. Yet there is no clear hint on superior performance of certaint diversification strategies. Rather success stories for many forms can be told. Further findings indicate: not the degree of diversification is relevant for success but the relatedness among strategic business units. Portfolios of somehow related SBUs perform better than those completely unrelated. Success is explained by the ability to transfer core competencies (“resources”) among the business units of a company. Yet relatedness is a manifold concept. Two main types have to be distinguished: relatedness on the level of products and processes and on the level of management requirements. But which type of relatedness is the most promising in terms of superior company performance? Since earlier research work is insufficient to fully explain the phenomenon of diversification further research is indicated. This especially applies to German conglomerates since most research work focused on US firms mainly. The thesis at hand constitutes one part of that proceeding research. Its aim is to gain further insights on diversification and relatedness by empirically identifying and exploring real types of relatedness and their respective diversification strategies.

Strategic Management (2020) is a 325-page open educational resource designed as an introduction to the key topics and themes of strategic management. The open textbook is intended for a senior capstone course in an undergraduate business program and suitable for a wide range of undergraduate business students including those majoring in marketing, management, business administration, accounting, finance, real estate, business information technology, and hospitality and tourism. The text presents examples of familiar companies and personalities to illustrate the different strategies used by today's firms and how they go about implementing those strategies. It includes case studies, end of section key takeaways, exercises, and links to external videos, and an end-of-book glossary. The text is ideal for courses which focus on how organizations operate at the strategic level to be successful. Students will learn how to conduct case analyses, measure organizational performance, and conduct external and internal analyses.

​The decision to diversify lies at the core of corporate strategy and is one of the most important decisions for top management. Matthias Knecht introduces a new perspective on corporate diversification that extends the academic discussion and reveals substantial new insights with regards to one of the most pressing questions in strategic management: what makes a diversification strategy successful? The author introduces the dynamism of industries as the dominant force in the firm’s environment that influences the organization on all levels. Due to strategic, organizational, and managerial similarities of businesses competing in similar dynamic environments, synergistic benefits and superior economic performance can be realized through the combination of dynamic-related businesses in the corporate portfolio. This study provides a quantitative, multidimensional operationalization of industry dynamism and an in-depth assessment of the dynamism of a wide range of industries. At the core of the study lies the investigation of the performance impact of dynamic-related diversification strategies. The results provide new insights into successful portfolio construction strategies in the face of today’s dynamic environments.