Corporate Diversification by Partnerships : A case study of an entrance into eSports

Abstract: When diversifying into new markets, companies have a wide range of strategic options tochoose from. This thesis investigates reasons and drivers behind why companies usepartnership as a diversification strategy when entering new markets. Using a theoreticalframework composed of external and internal factors (Sánchez-Peinado & Menguzzato-Boulard, 2009) combined with Lambert’s (2008) partnership model, a single-case study wasconducted on a sports marketing agency’s entry into the fast growing eSports market.Primary data from semi-structured interviews and written internal material, together withsecondary data, i.e. reports, presentations and articles, constitute the foundation of the thesis’material. The analysis demonstrates how several factors, both external and internal, havebeen considered when deciding the strategy. The four drivers of Lambert’s (2008) partnershipmodel, have moreover managed to describe the reasons behind forming a partnership in theendeavor of diversification. Furthermore, the study found high significance of additionaldrivers in the form of knowledge-sharing and the opportunity to gain access to a widerbusiness network. These additional drivers are therefore recommended to be treated asseparate drivers in future research. Finally, the study concludes that the increasing pace ofchange and therefore higher uncertainty in traditional and newly arising markets can favor therather risk-averse strategy of partnerships, which therefore may serve as an interesting fieldfor future research.