Well, that’s easy: a realistic teaching case that blends various stakeholder perspectives on how to grow the business as a fintech as well as an incumbent (the status-quo). Add to that an author team consisting of various early stage researchers from the FINDER crew, several seasoned business executives and add to that two more academics and you have what SAGE publishing lists as:

To Build, Buy, or Ally: Envisioning Growth Amidst the Fintech Revolution

• By:Rick Aalbers, S. James Ellis, Saeed Khanagha, Ivo Luijendijk, Remco Neuteboom & Jonas Röttger
• Publisher: SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals
• Discipline: General Business & Management, Corporate Strategy
• Contains: Teaching Notes
• DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781529793840

“Case backdrop in a nutshell: Atos is a publicly listed French multinational information technology services and business consultancy company which has experienced static growth in its stocks since its initial public offering (IPO) in 1995. However, since the heyday of 2017 when the stock peaked (ca. EUR 100 per share) the market price has dropped and stabilized at around 30% of its all-time high. Having a strongly proclaimed constant growth strategy and a substantial track record of inorganic growth undertakings, Atos currently finds itself in a situation of high expectations and high financial pressure. This was especially true given its FY19 debt of EUR 1.7 billion. How does one grow a business when there are so many options: to grow, to build, or simply to buy your way into the fintech future. What works when and why? And how about economic setback as major disruptor to some of these decisions? Check out the case and find out more. To build, buy, or ally now becomes a fundamental question for the stakeholders involved, as strategic recalibration is on the horizon.”

Congratulation to the team on bringing this case to an international audience of bachelor and master level business case students interested in better understanding the current fintech revolution.