Conglomerate

Conglomerate
A corporation that is made up of a number of different, seemingly unrelated businesses. In a conglomerate, one company owns a controlling stake in a number of smaller companies, which conduct business separately. Each of a conglomerate's subsidiary businesses runs independently of the other business divisions, but the subsidiaries' management reports to senior management at the parent company.

The largest conglomerates diversify business risk by participating in a number of different markets, although some conglomerates elect to participate in a single industry - for example, mining.

These are the two philosophies guiding many conglomerates:

1. By participating in a number of unrelated businesses, the parent corporation is able to reduce costs by using fewer resources.

2. By diversifying business interests, the risks inherent in operating in a single market are mitigated.

History has shown that conglomerates can become so diversified and complicated that they are too difficult to manage efficiently. Since the height of their popularity in the period between the 1960s and the 1980s, many conglomerates have reduced the number of businesses under their management to a few choice subsidiaries through divestiture and spinoffs.


Investment dictionary. . 2012.

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  • Conglomerate — may refer to: Conglomerate (company) Conglomerate (geology) The Conglomerate (comics), a corporate sponsored superhero team in the DC Universe The Conglomerate, a jazz quartet from Melbourne, Australia Respect My Conglomerate , a 2009 single by… …   Wikipedia

  • conglomerate — con·glom·er·ate /kən glä mə rət/ n: a widely diversified company; esp: a corporation that acquires other companies whose activities are unrelated to the corporation s primary activity Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996 …   Law dictionary

  • Conglomerate — Con*glom er*ate, a. [L. conglomeratus, p. p. of conglomerare to roll together; con + glomerare to wind into a ball. See {Glomerate}.] 1. Gathered into a ball or a mass; collected together; concentrated; as, conglomerate rays of light. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Conglomerate — Con*glom er*ate, n. 1. That which is heaped together in a mass or conpacted from various sources; a mass formed of fragments; collection; accumulation. [1913 Webster] A conglomerate of marvelous anecdotes, marvelously heaped together. Trench.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • conglomerate — ► NOUN 1) something consisting of a number of different and distinct things. 2) a large corporation formed by the merging of separate firms. 3) Geology a coarse grained sedimentary rock composed of rounded fragments cemented together. ► ADJECTIVE …   English terms dictionary

  • conglomerate — [kən gläm′ər at′ikkən gläm′ər āt΄; ] for adj. & n. [, kən gläm′ər it] vt., vi. conglomerated, conglomerating [< L conglomeratus, pp. of conglomerare, to roll together < com , together + glomerare, to gather into a ball < glomus, a ball… …   English World dictionary

  • conglomerate — [adj] composite amassed, assorted, blended, clustered, heterogeneous, indiscriminate, massed, melded, miscellaneous, mixed, motley, multifarious, promiscuous, varied, variegated; concepts 490,589 Ant. individual, separate, single conglomerate [n] …   New thesaurus

  • Conglomerate — Con*glom er*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Conglomerated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Conglomerating}.] To gather into a ball or round body; to collect into a mass. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Conglomerāte — Conglomerāte, Gesteine, wo abgerundete Stücken od. Geschiebe anderer Felsarten durch ein Bindemittel, gewöhnlich Thon, Mergel od. Kalk, mit einander verkittet sind; sie sind neptunische Bildungen u. treten bes. in den jüngeren Formationen auf …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Conglomerate — Conglomerate, nennt man solche Gesteine, bei welchen eckige oder abgerundete Stücke verschiedener Mineralien, einfacher und gemengter Gesteine, durch ein Bindemittel zusammengekittet sind, das theils ein einfaches, theils ein gemengtes ist.… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • conglomerate — conglomerate, conglomeration agglomerate, agglomeration, *aggregate, aggregation Analogous words: mass, heap, pile, stack (see under HEAP vb): accumulation, amassment, hoarding or hoard (see corresponding verbs at ACCUMULATE) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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