The Evolution of Ireland's Kerry Group/PLC-Implications for the U.S. and Global Dairy-Food Industries

This Discussion Paper is a case study of Kerry Group/PLC of Ireland. Kerry grew from a small dairy cooperative (annual sales of US $50 million) in the early 1970s into an international food ingredients and consumer food products company with sales of US$2.6 billion in 1998. Kerry Group/PLC provides a model that US and other dairy-food firms interested in exporting dairy-based food ingredients or engaging in foreign direct investment in food ingredients businesses might emulate.Kerry Group/PLC of Ireland, Irish Dairy Industry, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Industrial Organization, International Development,

Realizing Potential: The Impact of Business Incubation upon the Absorptive Capacity of New Technology Based Firms

This article explores the potential of university technology business incubators to enhance the absorptive capacity of new technology-based firms. The research pursues three critical themes: it employs the absorptive capacity construct to analyse and evaluate the potential of incubation to strengthen the business model of new technology firms. It then explores the interaction between founders and incubator directors, mentors and business advisers to assess how this might enhance absorptive capacity. Finally, it indicates how such interactions can facilitate the transition from potential to realised absorptive capacity. The article interrogates the incubation process by using the absorptive capacity framework to evaluate how it might strengthen the business model of new technology firms. The qualitative findings suggest that where founders, advisers, mentors and incubator directors engage collaboratively to create an iterative dialogue which informs the development of a viable business model, the process by which potential absorptive capacity can be fully realised is substantially strengthened

People Matters: Accounting for Culture in Mergers and Acquisitions

People_matters.pdf: 664 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Blueprint Buffalo Action Plan: Regional Strategies for Reclaiming Vacant Properties in the City and Suburbs of Buffalo

Over a period of about nine months, the NVPC team conducted interviews and gathered insights that have resulted in this report. During the study period, Buffalo–Niagara emerged as a region broadly challenged by decades of disinvestment and population loss, but also as a close network of communities singularly blessed with a wealth of historic, transit-friendly, and affordable neighborhoods and commercial areas. Building on the City of Buffalo’s “asset management” strategy first proposed in 2004 by the Cornell Cooperative Extension Association—and now formally adopted by the Buffalo Common Council as part of its comprehensive 20-year plan for the city—the NVPC team sought to reexamine how the revitalization of Buffalo’s vacant properties could actually serve as a catalyst to address the region’s other most pressing problems: population loss, a weak real estate market in the inner city, signs of incipient economic instability in older suburbs, quality-of-life issues, school quality, and suburban sprawl

Stabilizing Neighborhoods Impacted by Concentrated Foreclosures: Scattered-Site Rental Housing Challenges and Opportunities

The negative impacts of concentrated foreclosures have been destabilizing communities across the country. Community development corporations (CDCs) and other nonprofits that are active in these neighborhoods face falling property values, decreased lending activity and other consequences that are complicating their efforts at community revitalization through acquisition, rehabilitation and resale of vacant and foreclosed housing stock. Given the current crisis in the housing and credit markets, community development corporations aiming for neighborhood stabilization may wish to acquire foreclosed single-family properties and operate them as scattered-site rental units instead. This study presents the challenges that nonprofits pursuing such a plan are likely to face. It discusses the main management, financing and political issues associated with developing and operating scattered-site rental housing while providing a foundation upon which CDCs considering such activities can evaluate their capacity and willingness to meet the challenges. The paper explores how local market conditions, internal organizational capacity and the current policy environment affect nonprofit efforts to acquire, rehabilitate and rent foreclosed properties. The study includes operational and advocacy recommendations for improving the context in which scattered-site rental housing can be managed. The paper also considers the unique difficulties of the current situation and concludes that comprehensive revitalization efforts that emphasize cross-sectoral partnerships and enjoy strong local government support are most likely to exert a positive impact on a community

Entrepreneurship and the development of global brands

Over the course of the twentieth century, entrepreneurs developed a number of successful global brands in consumer-goods industries. However, few independent brands survived the merger waves of the 1980s. To address the question of why so few independent brands survived, this paper examines successful brands in industries that rely principally on advertising for competitive success. Successful consumer-goods brands in several industries and countries are compared in order to highlight innovative strategies pursued by brand managers. The analyzed brands are mainly owned by Europeans, although a few examples of American and Japanese brands are covered as well

The strategies of multilatinas: from the quest for regional leadership to the myth of the global corporation \r\n

The emerging Latin American corporations come essentially from Brazil and Mexico. Their prime motivation lies in the acquisition of natural resources and the search for market openings. With the exception of Cemex and Embraer who aspire to be global players, the majority of the multilatinas are regional or bi-regional companies. To a large extent, the sectorial breakdown of the multilatinas reflects the productive and technological specialisation of Latin America. They do not have at their disposal the same specific advantages as the emerging Asian multinational corporations in the high-tech industries or in the high capital-intensive sectors. The recent growth of their international activities has certainly impacted the dynamics of the global economy, particularly as regards the re-establishment of North-South links and the strengthening of South-South co-operation.Emerging multinational corporations, multilatinas, foreign direct investment, re-establishment of North-South links, South-South co-operation

Overseas Mergers and Acquisitions by Indian Enterprises: Patterns and Motivations

This paper examines the patterns and motivations behind the overseas M&As by Indian enterprises. It is found that a large majority of overseas M&As originated within services sector led by software industry and in overwhelming cases were directed towards developed countries of the world economy. The main motivations of Indian firm’s overseas acquisitions have been to access international market, firm-specific intangibles like technology and human skills, benefits from operational synergies, overcome constraints from limited home market growth, and survive in an increasingly competitive business environment. Further it has been found that overseas acquirers in the case of manufacturing sector tends to be large sized and research intensive, while they are older, large sized and export-oriented in the case of software sector.Indian firms; Overseas M&As

Innovation, skills development and labour: a European perspective

LSE Enterprise was approached by Microsoft, a software developer engaged in lobbying the European Commission and Parliament, to appoint an expert team of academic consultants to research and write a series of four reports on various aspects of innovation. Working with our nominated academic director, LSE Enterprise put together a strong research team, who continue to work closely with the client to deliver each of the reports to a standard suitable for consumption by top EU policy-makers, the client's industry sector, the press and the public. The reports are designed and printed professionally to ensure maximum quality and consistency across the series