Ben Gomes-Casseres is an expert on business combinations, in particular alliance strategy and management. He has researched this topic for 30 years, taught it to MBAs and executives, and consults with major companies in the United States and abroad. Ben was a finalist for the strategy award of Thinkers50. His book Remix Strategy won silver prize for best book in economics from Axiom.
Ben is the Peter A. Petri Professor of Business and Society at Brandeis University (Waltham, Mass.), where he directs the MBA Program and the Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship. He teaches courses in business strategy, M&A and alliances, and management of technology and innovation. Previously, he was a professor at the Harvard Business School (1985-1995), where he taught courses in strategy and international business. Prior to that, he worked as a project economist at the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group (1978-1981).
Ben’s newest book is Remix Strategy: The Three Laws of Business Combinations (Harvard Business Review Press, 2015). This book helps managers create new value by leveraging resources outside their firms, using alliances, acquisitions, and other forms of collaboration. His earlier book Mastering Alliance Strategy: A Comprehensive Guide to Design, Management, and Organization (with Bamford and Robinson; Jossey-Bass, 2003) gave practical advice on alliance management. The Alliance Revolution: The New Shape of Business Rivalry (Harvard University Press, 1996) pioneered the analysis of multi-firm “constellations.” His articles have appeared in Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, Financial Times, Strategy & Business, Sloan Management Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Financial Economics, and elsewhere. His work has been cited in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes, CFO Europe, Pharmaceutical Executive, Boston Business Journal, and Associated Press. He has written numerous cases for the Harvard Business School.
Ben has published two online courses on LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com), on “Strategic Partnerships” and on “Ecosystems and Platforms.” Each of these fast-paced courses present a collection of short videos (2-3min) that explain in plain language how to create value through alliances and ecosystems.
Ben has consulted, taught, or spoken worldwide on business combinations and strategy. His clients have included General Electric, Bayer, AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Syngenta, Yahoo!, Johnson Controls, Battelle Memorial Institute, Abbott Labs, Eli Lilly, DuPont, Sun Microsystems, Motorola, Daimler, MasterCard, Qualcomm, Hewlett Packard, Chevron, and NASA. He has taught in executive education programs at Harvard Business School, Brandeis, INSEAD, and the University of Chicago. He is a frequent top-rated speaker at industry and professional conferences, such as at The Conference Board and the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals (where he is CSAP certified).
Ben is an advisor to Inspira Farms, a social enterprise promoting small farmer food production, and a judge at MassChallenge.
Ben holds a Bachelor of Arts in history and in economics from Brandeis (1976), a Master of Public Affairs in economic development from Princeton (1978), and a Doctor of Business Administration in international business from Harvard (1985). Born and raised in Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles), he speaks four languages (English, Dutch, Spanish, and Papiamentu), and is a dual citizen of the United States and the Netherlands. On many clear nights, he is outside observing and photographing the skies.