Companies need to find a compelling growth strategy and can pursue several options. They can grow internally via organic means, they can grow through mergers and acquisitions, or they can use various venturing tools such as corporate venture capital, partnering with ventures groups, or hybrid models. All of these involve tradeoffs, and the success of any particular strategy depends on external factors as well as a firm's organizational design. When looking at corporate venturing options, there is no "right" or "wrong" option, and strategic choices will need to be considered in light of internal and external factors. Hilti is a large established legacy company, active worldwide. It has traditionally grown its hardware business via organic growth and internal development. Over the past 10-15 years Hilti has increased its enterprise value, mainly by internal growth and by improving and optimizing financial controls and resource allocation. At the same time Hilti, began a process to use other corporate venturing strategies and to increase the share of turnover earned from software - as opposed to hardware - lines of business.

Aiming to blaze the trail that would lead the air travel industry out of the pandemic, SITA decided to reshuffle and renew its credit facilities. In the process, it established that sustainability - particularly ESG factors - would play an increasingly critical role in the financing of the struggling aviation sector. Negotiating a sustainability-linked revolving credit facility (RCF) that connected specific ESG targets to potential pricing benefits proved to be an opportunity for SITA's executives to (1) draw on and gauge the impact of SITA's established credentials and experience in areas that included carbon-neutral certification and accessing alternative sources of funding such as Schuldschein; (2) alleviate financial risk for airlines (as SITA members); and (3) kickstart a broader, organization-wide change process led by Finance and Treasury, of ESG learning, data collection (encompassing scope 2 and 3) and building a culture of sustainability. Although the purely economic gains of ESG compliance for SITA might be modest overall, several positive links emerged. They include those between meeting ESG targets and obtaining priority access to funding, better compliance with regulatory requirements, increased customer loyalty and employee productivity, and improved firm value and financial performance.

This case is designed to discuss the tradeoffs between independent venture capital (IVC) and corporate venture capital (CVC). Students also have the opportunity to analyze two startup investment opportunities based on Nine Realms' criteria. The case concludes with a discussion about a strategic choice faced by Nine Realms: should it continue as an IVC, list on the stock market or shift to a CVC? This allows students to debate the tradeoffs between the two approaches for the individuals involved.

A discussion between two hedge fund managers is used to examine the merits of investing in Wesfarmers, an industrial conglomerate, following a transformative acquisition of a retail business called Coles, in 2007. Coles had been underperforming and was open to bids from Private Equity firms. It was a classic turnaround story. The case is brought to life as Wesfarmers has announced a demerger of Coles in 2018, hence it enables a comprehensive evaluation of the acquisition. The operation turnaround of Coles has been spectacular and the share price ten years on has also done well. However, the case stresses the importance of capital discipline in acquisitions and what optically can look like a good result, on closer examination may not really be the case. It also brings into the question of risk versus reward. The case examines the ways in which the success of major acquisitions can be assessed and the methods through which conglomerates can operate successfully. Study of conglomerates is in response to evidence of trends towards business diversification, as a means of delivering growth objectives.

Continuation of Case A, IMD988 A discussion between two hedge fund managers is used to examine the merits of investing in Wesfarmers, an industrial conglomerate, following a transformative acquisition of a retail business called Coles, in 2007. Coles had been underperforming and was open to bids from Private Equity firms. It was a classic turnaround story. The case is brought to life as Wesfarmers has announced a demerger of Coles in 2018, hence it enables a comprehensive evaluation of the acquisition. The operation turnaround of Coles has been spectacular and the share price ten years on has also done well. However, the case stresses the importance of capital discipline in acquisitions and what optically can look like a good result, on closer examination may not really be the case. It also brings into the question of risk versus reward. The case examines the ways in which the success of major acquisitions can be assessed and the methods through which conglomerates can operate successfully. Study of conglomerates is in response to evidence of trends towards business diversification, as a means of delivering growth objectives.

When Luca Garavoglia became chairman of the Campari Group at the age of 23 following the death of his father, he immediately adopted a strategy of fast growth through acquisitions. Over the next 24 years, Campari acquired 26 companies, spending over €3 billion and establishing its own distribution network in 20 countries. This two-part case series describes how Campari transformed from a single-brand local Italian company to an important player in the global spirits industry with over 50 premium brands distributed in over 190 countries. CASE A follows Campari on its journey from 1994 to 2018, providing an overview of its history, business strategy, market place, trends and competitive landscape. learning objective: The case describes the successful transformation and survival of Campari as a small player among "giants" in a niche sector of the spirits industry. It can be used for class discussion on different business and social topics, such as: 1)Business strategy (SWOT, Porter's 5-forces); 2) Globalization (from local to global); 3) Growth through M&As (value creation, synergies); 4) Family-owned businesses (conflict of interest, strategic fit); 5) Marketing strategy (market trends, ethical role of marketeers).

At the age of 23, Luca Garavoglia became chairman of the Campari Group following the sudden death of his father two years earlier in 1992. From the start, Luca adopted a strategy of fast growth through acquisitions and over the next 24 years, Campari acquired 26 other companies, spending a total of over €3 billion and establishing its own distribution network in 20 countries. This two-part case series describes how Campari transformed from a single-brand local Italian company to an important player in the global spirits industry with over 50 premium brands distributed in over 190 countries around the world. CASE B starts with the announcement of a friendly tender offer by Campari for Grand Marnier in March 2016. This was the largest acquisition in the 156 years of Campari's existence and also one of its most complex ones. It took Campari over 18 months to arrive at this point and it had to wait another month to find out how this offer would be received by the shareholders of Grand Marnier and Campari. Calculating the offer price was Campari's biggest challenge. With no business plan, and no equity research financial forecasts available, it had to make its own projections based on its business knowledge of the spirits industry.

Worldwide, there is no parallel comparison to China's Tencent Holdings. The $22 billion tech giant is a collective answer to Facebook, WhatsApp, Spotify, Kindle, Skype, Pinterest, Apple Pay and others. This case explains how Tencent built a digital platform business from scratch over a period of nearly two decades. Undoubtedly, it gained significant benefits from being an early mover in developing a massive one-billion-strong user base on its gaming and messaging platforms. However, what is exceptional about Tencent is that it has been able to successfully monetize its social audience at scale - a tough challenge for most digital platform companies. Tencent's double digit growth boosted investor confidence that the company would continue to tap the spending power of its users while leveraging the growth potential of its still-nascent advertising and payments businesses. Could the most valuable company in Asia, continue to meet shareholder expectations in 2017 and beyond? Learning objective: 1. Understand the platform business model compared to the traditional pipeline business model; 2. Recognize how network effects create value on a platform; 3. Examine the three types of value that digital disruptors deliver - cost value, experience value and platform value; 4. Comprehend the challenges in monetizing platforms effectively.

The case is set in May 2016 when the Monetary Authority of Singapore withdrew the merchant banking license of the Singapore branch of Swiss private bank BSI Ltd. The reasons cited were violation of anti-money laundering regulations, pervasive non-compliance and gross misconduct by staff. The closure of the bank was precipitated by an ongoing scandal around its biggest client, 1MDB, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund spearheaded by the Prime Minister Najib Razak. At the same time, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority announced criminal proceedings against the BSI group for failure to conduct statutory due diligence on transactions involving hundreds of millions of dollars linked to 1MDB and slapped on a fine of CHF 95 million. The case provides an opportunity to analyze the factors that led to the demise of BSI, one of the oldest banks in Switzerland and the sixth largest in the country. Did the lure of lucrative business persuade it to cross the line in terms of ethics and regulatory requirements? BSI appears to have pursued top-line growth at the expense of compliance. To what extent was the senior management responsible? Could BSI have better managed the balance between risk management and its growth strategy? If so, how? Learning objective: To identify the contextual challenges of operating in complex high-growth markets. To understand the role of senior management in maintaining oversight. To recognize the balance between managing risk and compliance in pursuing aggressive targets. To assess the interface between the headquarters and the local subsidiary for functions such as audit, governance and conduct. To understand the global ramifications of a local breach.

The case study is set in early December 2014. Uber has just completed a round of funding and as a result has an eye-watering valuation of US$41 billion. The case initially explains the service Uber offered to its riders and then gives an overview of the origins and early growth of the company, as well as some insights into the influence of co-founder and CEO, Travis Kalanick, on the company culture. The following section outlines the characteristics of the traditional taxi industry, which was initially Uber's primary competitor. Details of Uber's disruptive business model are implicit in the case but the components are not spelled out to the reader. Rather, the intention is to draw this out in small group or plenary discussions through the assignment questions. The case goes on to review more recent growth, outlining some of the PR issues the company has faced with respect to aggressive business practices and questions around its data privacy policies. A possible softening of management's approach is suggested in the final section.

On 10 May 2011, Microsoft announced that it would buy Skype for $8.5 billion. The price tag was undoubtedly high - roughly ten times Skype's revenues in 2010 ($860 million), around twice its recent valuation. In late 2009, eBay sold the majority of its stake in Skype to an investor group led by Silver Lake Partners at a valuation of around $2.75 billion. What makes this more interesting is that Skype itself had not been profitable since its foundation in 2003. So what was the reasoning behind the deal? How did Microsoft finally arrive at that price? Why was it willing to pay such a large amount of money? Was there something more? The brand, the networking, the technology, the possible strategic and product synergies...? Learning objectives: The case provides a good opportunity to discuss valuation issues in a fast-growing company in the high-tech industry. The acquisition was undoubtedly expensive. But how did Microsoft arrive at that price? Let us go back to valuation basics. What was the value of Skype at the time? Although it was a private business, Skype was ready to go to public in 2010 and therefore some inside information is available about its financial performance. Based on these documents as well as analysts' reports, participants can learn how to justify a firm's valuation by using the discounted cash flow method. Both Microsoft and Skype were large-sized companies operating in the technology sector. The case also provides a good opportunity to discuss the characteristics of the industry in general as well as the strategic/synergistic fit of these two companies.