Beyond the Core

4

Orchestrating Adjacency Moves

Strengthening the Core Versus Investing in Adjacencies

Up until now we have said relatively little about the condition of the core business itself. Yet, it is the central character in all dramas concerning adjacency moves. Even the most attractive growth opportunity can turn unattractive, unrealistic, or even destructive when bolted onto the wrong core business, or onto the right business at the wrong time. And even a relatively modest adjacency move by a strong core business with pent-up resources to invest can act as a catalyst to trigger a burst of new growth. Indeed, we found that more than 80 percent of the most successful companies achieved a large portion of their profitable growth by moving into adjacencies ...