What is corporate strategy?

• A. Corporate strategy explains how a multi-business firm creates value across its portfolio of businesses.
• B. A single-business strategy focusing on core product.
• C. Operational efficiency within a single market.
• D. Marketing plan for a single product.

Answer: (A)

Corporate strategy focuses on how a company with multiple businesses creates value across its portfolio. It involves decisions about which businesses to own, how to allocate capital among them, and how to coordinate activities to generate synergy and overall value. This broad, portfolio-level view distinguishes it from strategies aimed at a single business or function.

The best choice captures that portfolio-wide perspective, describing value creation across a multi-business firm. By contrast, options that emphasize a single product, one market, or a marketing plan describe narrower approaches—business-level, operational, or marketing strategies rather than corporate strategy. For example, choosing which businesses to acquire or divest, and how to share resources across units, are classic corporate-level concerns.