Sumitomo Corporation is one of the largest worldwide Sogo shosha general trading companies, and is a diversified corporation. It operates through the following segments: Metal Products; Transportation and Construction Systems; Environment and Infrastructure; Media, Network, and Lifestyle Related Goods and Services; and Mineral Resources, Energy, Chemical, and Electronics.

Sumitomo

Conglomerate

Japan

The Conglomerates sector refers to the area of the market occupied by large corporations comprised of diverse and unrelated business units. The rise of the conglomerate model began as ambitious businesses keen to expand were unable to grow in their own sector. Firms began acquiring businesses in unfamiliar sectors and diversifying themselves. Conglomerates may be regarded as dinosaurs in the developed world, but in emerging markets, diversified business groups continue to thrive, namely south east Asia. Investors in the west believe that diversification destroys value. However that is changing. Tech companies, with their abundant cash flows, are becoming a new version of the conglomerate, investing in research & development sometimes far afield of their core competencies. Diversified enterprises, by one name or another, will play a big role in the business world for a long time.

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