Most major companies are not single businesses firms operating in a single location but portfolios of products and business units spanning multiple locations. This course studies corporate strategy in terms of portfolio composition and organization, focusing in particular on vertical integration, horizontal scope, and geographic diversification decisions.

Class time shall be devoted to discussing cases to gain a better understanding of the economic factors underlying value creation and value capture in corporate strategy. In particular, we will explore the role of transaction costs, agency costs, complementarities, and organizational rigidity and adaptation. Students who take this course will develop a sophisticated basis for analyzing corporate strategy decisions both as insiders (corporate managers and management consultants), and as analysts and investors.

Vanessa Burbano

Assistant Professor

Vanessa Burbano is an Assistant Professor of Management in the strategy area at Columbia Business School. She was named to Poets and Quants’ 2019 list of Best 40 Business School Professors Under 40.  

Burbano researches the strategic implications of socially responsible and irresponsible firm practices; in particular...

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