Usually, investors prefer to take on a mixture of risks of their own choosing, by buying the shares of different companies, rather than accepting the pre-packaged choice of a chief executive.Such investors listen sceptically when conglomerates defend themselves.
However, over time, energy companies have been allowed to become massive conglomerates supplying themselves through a complex web of deals and companies, which means that now perhaps 90 per cent of our energy is traded in secret and only 10 per cent is available on the open market.
Some, such as Ralph Lauren, are conglomerates unto themselves, and most have financial backers to whom they have to answer, but the majority are relatively young and many remain relatively obscure.
Closer examination suggested that both of these tumor cell conglomerates were themselves organized into distinct microdomains.
From inward-looking, tentacled conglomerates, many transformed themselves into global firms focused on particular markets.
It is highly unusual for chief executives of media conglomerates to involve themselves in the minutiae of moviemaking.
Japan's media landscape is dominated by conglomerates, which see themselves as peers of industry and government rather than insurgents.
But when the markets turn, budding financial conglomerates could find themselves with more awkward questions to answer.
European conglomerates are putting themselves through remarkable restructuring efforts -- buying and selling businesses to focus their strategies, setting more ambitious goals for profitability and making themselves much more responsive to outside shareholders.
