EBX Group (B): Autopsy of a Failure

Case A explores the career trajectory of Eike Batista, CEO and founder of EBX, a Brazilian conglomerate focused on mining, oil & gas, shipping and other industries, who is already looking to expand into new markets while his existing businesses are only just moving into an operational phase. His success comes from his strength in exploiting the institutional void in Brazil to uncover new market opportunities; operationalizing these new businesses is quite another challenge. Case B charts the extraordinary debacle of EBX Group and Eike Batista, who loses US$30 billion in one year.

1. Institutional voids and the ability of firms to exploit such voids for new business opportunities. 2. Organizational ambidexterity: the challenge of exploiting existing business opportunities while exploring new ones. 3. Time compression diseconomies in building a large conglomerate in an emerging market.