Exploiting your synergy potential: Promoting collaboration between business units

Abstract Synergy as a concept of corporate strategy has become widely regarded as passe. But compelling forces are currently at work, leading firms to re-examine their attitudes. Synergy potential can be realized through interrelationships between business units with high product or market affinities. This article proposes a systematic approach. It enables senior executives of diversified companies to identify affinities, to determine critical interrelationships, and to evaluate and realize synergy potential.