Benjamin Gomes-Casseres

Degrees
Harvard University, D.B.A.Princeton University, M.P.A.
Brandeis University, B.A.
Expertise
Specializing in strategy of business combinations, including alliances, partnerships, joint ventures, ecosystems, and mergers and acquisitions. General expertise in business strategy, international business, and technology strategy.Website: www.alliancestrategy.com
Email: bgc@brandeis.edu
Profile
Ben Gomes-Casseres is an authority on alliance strategy and management. He has researched this topic for 30 years, taught it to MBAs and executives, and consulted with major companies worldwide.At Brandeis, Ben teaches courses on business strategy and directs the MBA program and the Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship. Before coming to Brandeis, he served a decade on the faculty of the Harvard Business School; before that, he was an economist at the World Bank.
Ben's most recent book is "Remix Strategy: The Three Laws of Business Combinations" (Harvard Business Review Press, 2015). Earlier, he authored "The Alliance Revolution: The New Shape of Business Rivalry" (Harvard University Press, 1996) and co-authored "Mastering Alliance Strategy: A Comprehensive Guide to Design, Management, and Organization" (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2003). Ben's work has also appeared in various scholarly journals and industry periodicals. Many of his publications, including current blog postings, are at http://www.alliancestrategy.com.
Ben's online courses on "Strategic Partnerships" and "Ecosystems and Platforms" are published on the LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com) platform.
Ben is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a consultant and executive trainer to global. Webpage
Courses Taught
BUS | 260a | Competition and Strategy |
BUS | 261a | Managing Technology and Innovation |
BUS | 262a | Alliance, Acquisition, and Divestment Strategy |
BUS | 263a | Strategy and Innovation |
BUS | 295a | Field Projects |
Awards and Honors
Peter A. Petri Chair in Business and Society (2019)
Finalist, Thought Leader of the Year, The Alliance of Merger and Acquisition Advisors (2016)
Silver Prize in Economics, Axiom Book Awards, for REMIX STRATEGY (2016)
Finalist, Strategy Award, Thinkers50 (2015)
Excellence in Teaching Award (Brandeis IBS) (2008)
Decade Award for Most Influential Article Published in Journal of International Business in 1990's (Academy of International Business) (2000 - 2001)
Distinguished Service Award (Brandeis IBS) (1998)
Distinguished Service Award (Brandeis IBS) (1996)
Barry M. Richman Award for best dissertation in international management (Academy of Management) (1987)
Phi Beta Kappa (1976)
Summa Cum Laude, Highest Honors in History (Brandeis Univ.) (1976)
Scholarship
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Edith Penrose in the New Economy,." Strategic Management Review (2020). (forthcoming)
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin and Mauricio Jenkins and Peter Zámborský. "Profitability of Joint Ventures Abroad: Explaining a New Empirical Puzzle." Advancing the Frontiers of Alliance Research. vol. 2019. Ed. Farok Contractor and Jeffrey Reuer. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin, with Bob Saada. "Why Your Next Deal May Be A Partnership." Strategy + Business Spring 2019. (2019).
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Entrepreneurship Through Mergers and Alliance: Schumpeter Remixed." Handbook on Entrepreneurship and Collaboration. vol. 2019 Ed. Sharon Matusik and Jeffrey Reuer. Oxford University Press, 2019. Chapter 4.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Strategic Partnerships: Ecosystems and Platforms." Linked In Learning June 2019 (2019): <https://www.linkedin.com/learning/strategic-partnerships-ecosystems-and-platforms/the-business-of-ecosystems-and-platforms>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "What the Biggest Business Deals of 2019 Tell Us About the Next Decade." Harvard Business Review December 31, 2019 (2019): <https://hbr.org/2019/12/what-the-biggest-business-deals-of-2019-tell-us-about-the-next-decade>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Acquiring Value: New Strategies for M&A." Harvard Business Review Webinar (2018): <https://hbr.org/webinar/2018/06/acquiring-value-new-strategies-for-ma>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "In 2018, Did Business Get Too Big?." The New York Times
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Strategic Partnerships (online course)." Linked-In Learning (Lynda.com) (2018): <https://alliancestrategy.com/remix-strategy-movie/>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Who Killed the GE Model." Harvard Business Review (2018): <https://hbr.org/2018/07/who-killed-the-ge-model>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "CVS-Aetna Merger Hinges on One Question: What Do Consumers Get Out of It?." Harvard Business Review (2017): <https://hbr.org/2017/11/the-cvs-aetna-merger-hinges-on-one-question-what-do-consumers-get-out-of-it>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Column: The 10 Most Remarkable Deals — And Busts — Of 2016." Making Sense, PBS NewsHour January, 2017 (2017): <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/column-10-remarkable-deals-busts-2016/>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Is the LinkedIn Acquisition Microsoft's Attempt to Build Its Own Alphabet?." Harvard Business Review June, 2016 (2017): <https://hbr.org/2016/06/is-the-linkedin-acquisition-microsofts-attempt-to-build-its-own-alphabet>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "What Does Whole Foods Get from Amazon? Alexa, for Starters." Harvard Business Review (2017): <https://hbr.org/2017/06/what-does-whole-foods-get-from-amazon-alexa-for-starters>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "What We Can Learn from Merger Deals That Never Happened." Harvard Business Review June, 2016 (2017): <https://hbr.org/2016/06/what-we-can-learn-from-merger-deals-that-never-happened>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "What the Big Mergers of 2017 Tell Us About 2018." Harvard Business Review (2017): <https://hbr.org/2017/12/what-the-big-mergers-of-2017-tell-us-about-2018>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "What’s Behind These Big Merger Deal Busts?." Making Sense, PBS NewsHour June, 2016 (2017): <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/column-whats-behind-these-high-profile-merger-flops/>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Why Your Partnership Contract Is Too Important to Be Left to the Lawyers." Harvard Business Review October, 2016 (2017): <https://hbr.org/2016/10/why-your-partnership-contract-is-too-important-to-be-left-to-the-lawyers>.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Cooperation AND Competition: How to Get the Best of Both Worlds." Rev. of Friend & Foe, by Adam Galinsky and Maurice Schweitzer. Strategy & Leadership vol. 44 of 1 January 2016
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "A Yahoo Break-Up Could Be the Start of Lots of Splits." Harvard Business Review (2015)
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Don’t Base Business Partnerships on Personal Chemistry." Harvard Business Review (2015)
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Making Mergers, Acquisitions, and other Business Combinations Work." Harvard Business Review (2015)
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "The Pfizer-Allergan Deal Shouldn’t Be Just About Tax Inversion." Harvard Business Review (2015)
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "The Three Laws of Business Combinations: How to Create Value by Remixing Assets." Strategy and Leadership 43. 5 (2015): 18-23.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "What to Expect from the Dell-EMC Deal." Harvard Business Review (2015)
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. Remix Strategy: The Three Laws of Business Combinations. First ed. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2015.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. Various blog articles and videos on alliance strategy
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Profitability, Ownership Structure, and Competitive Advantage: Empirical Patterns, Theory, and Preliminary Tests." 2008.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "How Alliances Reshape Competition." Handbook of Strategic Alliances. Ed. Oded Shenkar and Jeffrey J. Reuer. Thousand Oaks, CA:: Sage Publications, 2006
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Vendor or Partner?." Outsourcing Venture Management Quarter 3, 2006.
Gomes-Casseres,Benjamin co-auth. Adam Jaffe and John Hagedoorn. "Do alliances promote knowledge flows?." Journal of Financial Economics (2005).
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Alliance Strategy: Managing Beyond the Alliance." CriticalEYE (2004): 4-8.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Competing in Alliance Constellations: A Primer for Managers." Global Corporate Evolution. Ed. Michael A. Trick. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2004
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Competitive Advantage in Alliance Constellations." Strategic Organization 1. 3 (2003): 327-335.
Gomes-Casseres,Benjamin Co-Authored with James Bamford and Michael Robinson. Mastering Alliance Strategy: Design, Management and Organization. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass, 2003.
Gomes-Casseres,Benjamin. The Alliance Revolution: The New Shape of Business Rivalry. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1996.
Gomes-Casseres,Benjamin Co-Authored with David Yoffie. International Trade and Competition: Cases and Notes in Strategy and Management. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
Gomes-Casseres,Benjamin. "Group vs. Group: How Alliance Networks Compete." Harvard Business Review (1994).
Gomes-Casseres,Benjamin Co-Authored with David Yoffie, Edward Elgar, co-ed. David Yoffie. The International Political Economy of Direct Foreign Investment,. Aldershot UD: Edward Elgar Publishers, 1993.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Firm Ownership Preferences and Host Government Restrictions: An Integrated Approach." Journal of International Business Studies (1990): 1-22.
Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin. "Ownership Structures of Foreign Subsidiaries: Theory and Evidence." Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (1989): 1-25.