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How to Know If a Spin-Off Will Succeed

Harvard Business Review

A 2010 meta-analysis detailed many of the different issues that make divestiture so hard to evaluate consistently. For example, after its spin-off from International Paper, Arizona Chemical drastically changed its market approach from a drive for volume to margin optimization.

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The Company Outsmarting Big Pharma in Africa

Harvard Business Review

That may be true, but then the firms that do carry out the R&D are also dominant in their developed domestic markets, where their margins can absorb the fixed costs of R&D and there's nothing to stop them from competing on a cost basis in Africa, particularly given the low production costs of most drugs.

Company 11
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Joint Ventures Reduce the Risk of Major Capital Investments

Harvard Business Review

For example, in 2010, Corelio and Concentra, two European media companies, established Coldset Printing Partners, a joint venture (JV) for their newspaper printing assets. Another example is microreactor technology, which is used in chemicals production processes; the scalable reactors promise fast and cost-effective production increases.