Remix Strategy: The Three Laws of Business Combinations (Harvard Business School Press)

How to Create Joint Value

Alliances, partnerships, acquisitions, mergers, and joint ventures are no longer the exception in most businesses—they are part of the core strategy. As managers look to external partners for resources and capabilities, they need a practical roadmap to ensure that these relationships will create value for their firm. They must answer questions like these: Which business combinations do we need? How should we govern them? Will their results justify our investments?

Benjamin Gomes-Casseres explains how companies create value by “remixing” resources with other companies. Based on decades of consulting and academic research, Remix Strategy shows how three laws shape the success of any business combination:

• First Law: The combination must have the potential to create more value than the parties could create on their own. Which elements from each business need to be combined to create joint value?
• Second Law: The combination must be designed and managed to realize the joint value. Which partners best fit our strategic goals? How should we manage the integration?
• Third Law: The value earned by the parties must motivate them to contribute to the collaboration. How will we share the joint value created? Will the returns shift over time?

Supported by examples from a wide range of industries and companies, and filled with practical tools for applying the three laws, this book helps managers design and lead a coherent strategy for creating joint value with outside partners.