Skip to content

ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Strategic choices

Brightwell Group is a parent that holds many unrelated businesses. Its head office is small, gives units wide autonomy, and mainly sets financial targets, allocates capital and replaces underperforming managers. It does not claim to share skills or resources between units. Using Goold, Campbell and Alexander's corporate parenting framework, which parenting role best describes Brightwell?

Brightwell is a portfolio manager. It holds unrelated businesses, keeps a small centre, gives units autonomy, sets financial targets, allocates capital and replaces weak managers. It does not claim to share resources or skills, nor to build unit capabilities, so synergy or developmental roles do not apply.

  1. ASynergy manager, linking units to share resources and skills
  2. BPortfolio manager, acting as an active investor and not intervening in operationsCorrect
  3. CParental developer, building the capabilities of each unit through central expertise
  4. DStrategic planner, guiding detailed strategies of each unit

Explanation

Portfolio managers (Campbell, Goold and Alexander's framework) act like investors, set financial targets, buy and sell businesses and avoid operational intervention. Synergy management needs shared resources, and developing roles need central capabilities, neither of which exists here. Option A is wrong because Brightwell claims no sharing.

Did you get it right without looking?

One question tells you little. A timed set on Strategic choices shows your real accuracy, how long you take and where you lose marks.

Practise Strategic choicesFree diagnostic mock

More Strategic choices questions