Challenges
Being a good operator is no longer enough—savvy management of the corporate portfolio is crucial to sustained superior value creation. Successful organizations regularly revisit their portfolios to understand the drivers of advantage and identify avenues for future growth. To remain on top in today’s environment, companies should focus on answering several important questions:
How can we manage our portfolio for long-term sustainable value creation?
Which businesses should be our growth platforms going forward? Which can be our "cash machines?"
How should we differentiate goals, metrics, and incentives across the portfolio?
What should we do with our non-core operations?
If someone else owned our businesses, could they create more value? Why?
BCG Competencies
We partner with our clients to create practical, "real-world" portfolio moves that deliver tangible value. We integrate multiple perspectives in our portfolio analysis:
Strategy (markets, competitive advantage, and competition)
Financials (actual and planned value creation)
Parenting advantage (corporate capabilities, transaction counterparties, fit with corporate identity, and vision)
We also derive alternative portfolio-development options and assess their value-creation potential. And we ensure successful implementation by translating portfolio strategy into practical, strategic road maps that include performance goals, merger-and-acquisition priorities, financial policies, and investor communication.
Our practice consists of more than 130 partners and 700 trained professionals at all BCG levels worldwide, all with significant experience in corporate development and corporate finance. Specifically, our corporate-finance task force and cadre and our Value Science Center—a dedicated group of more than 100 specialists—provide comprehensive support for our clients.