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Build, Borrow, or Buy: Solving the Growth Dilemma
How should you grow your organization?
It’s one of the most challenging questions an executive team faces—and the wrong answer can break your firm.
The problem is most firms’ growth strategies emphasize just one type of growth—some focus on organic growth, others on M&A. When these strategies falter, the common response is simply to try harder—but firms falling into this “implementation trap” usually end up losing out to a competitor whose approach is more inclusive.
So where do you start? By asking the right questions, argue INSEAD’s Laurence Capron and coauthor Will Mitchell, of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Drawing on decades of research and teaching, Capron and Mitchell find that a firm’s aptitude for determining the best resource pathways for growth has a defining impact on its success. They’ve come up with a helpful framework, reflecting practices of a variety of successful global organizations, to determine which path is best for yours.
The resource pathways framework is built around three strategic questions:
• BUILD: Are your existing internal resources relevant for developing the new resources that you have targeted for growth?
• BORROW: Could you obtain the targeted resources via an effective relationship with a resource partner?
• BUY: Do you need broad and deep relationships with your resource provider?
Written for large multinationals and emerging firms alike, Build, Borrow, or Buy will help solve a perennial question and will guide you through change while priming your organization for optimal growth.
It’s one of the most challenging questions an executive team faces—and the wrong answer can break your firm.
The problem is most firms’ growth strategies emphasize just one type of growth—some focus on organic growth, others on M&A. When these strategies falter, the common response is simply to try harder—but firms falling into this “implementation trap” usually end up losing out to a competitor whose approach is more inclusive.
So where do you start? By asking the right questions, argue INSEAD’s Laurence Capron and coauthor Will Mitchell, of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Drawing on decades of research and teaching, Capron and Mitchell find that a firm’s aptitude for determining the best resource pathways for growth has a defining impact on its success. They’ve come up with a helpful framework, reflecting practices of a variety of successful global organizations, to determine which path is best for yours.
The resource pathways framework is built around three strategic questions:
• BUILD: Are your existing internal resources relevant for developing the new resources that you have targeted for growth?
• BORROW: Could you obtain the targeted resources via an effective relationship with a resource partner?
• BUY: Do you need broad and deep relationships with your resource provider?
Written for large multinationals and emerging firms alike, Build, Borrow, or Buy will help solve a perennial question and will guide you through change while priming your organization for optimal growth.
- GenresBusinessEntrepreneurship
284 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 31, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 26, 2015
Excellent book , I took a course with here @ INSEAD very insightful
June 11, 2026
An excellent book for board and executive-level readers whose main premise is that firms that select the right ways to obtain new resources gain a competitive advantage. The authors (Laurence Capron and Will Mitchell) spell out four ways of obtaining resources, listed in increasing order of difficulty in managing them:
• building them internally with the company’s R&D (organic growth); applicable when the internal resource is relevant, i.e. there’s a strong knowledge and organizational fit
• borrowing from a third party using a licensing agreement; applicable when the resource is tradable, can be clearly described and can later be protected
• borrowing via an alliance or a JV; applicable when the desired closeness with the resource partner is low, the scope of collaboration is narrow and the partner’s goals are compatible
• buying via an M&A transaction; applicable when you need full control over the resource and are confident in an ability to integrate
The resource selection pathway starts from the simplest way of obtaining a capability—to build it internally—and then proceeds to the more complex ones. For each pathway the authors list the required knowledge and governance criteria that make it appropriate in the context of a given organization. If most criteria fit this path of obtaining resources, you choose it. Otherwise you proceed to the next. I found the framework very intuitive and easy to memorize. What is helpful is that the authors offer mitigating actions to make a certain path work.
For example, in the internal build pathway they present many of the pitfalls that make incumbent companies reluctant to try out and internally develop innovative new products that would compete with their established product lines, as well as practical ways of mitigating such governance challenges. These challenges are spelled out at length in the famous book The Innovator’s Dilemma. To their credit, Laurence and Will clearly recognize these governance traps and propose practical steps for mitigating their impact where it’s possible.
The central thread in the book is the importance of building experience with all four pathways of obtaining resources and not becoming one-trick ponies who always turn to the same pathway—frequently M&A or building everything internally—until they fall badly behind the competition. Corporations aspiring to be successful must master all four pathways. Additionally, they should regularly review how their existing resources are sourced, because as their strategic relevance to the business changes, so should the pathways used to obtain them—including timely divestments. 40% of 162 ICT firms surveyed by the authors used only one mode of growth. 33% used multiple modes of growth and were shown to be more likely to survive:
• 46% more likely than alliance specialists
• 26% more likely than M&A specialists
• 12% more likely than organic growth specialists
• building them internally with the company’s R&D (organic growth); applicable when the internal resource is relevant, i.e. there’s a strong knowledge and organizational fit
• borrowing from a third party using a licensing agreement; applicable when the resource is tradable, can be clearly described and can later be protected
• borrowing via an alliance or a JV; applicable when the desired closeness with the resource partner is low, the scope of collaboration is narrow and the partner’s goals are compatible
• buying via an M&A transaction; applicable when you need full control over the resource and are confident in an ability to integrate
The resource selection pathway starts from the simplest way of obtaining a capability—to build it internally—and then proceeds to the more complex ones. For each pathway the authors list the required knowledge and governance criteria that make it appropriate in the context of a given organization. If most criteria fit this path of obtaining resources, you choose it. Otherwise you proceed to the next. I found the framework very intuitive and easy to memorize. What is helpful is that the authors offer mitigating actions to make a certain path work.
For example, in the internal build pathway they present many of the pitfalls that make incumbent companies reluctant to try out and internally develop innovative new products that would compete with their established product lines, as well as practical ways of mitigating such governance challenges. These challenges are spelled out at length in the famous book The Innovator’s Dilemma. To their credit, Laurence and Will clearly recognize these governance traps and propose practical steps for mitigating their impact where it’s possible.
The central thread in the book is the importance of building experience with all four pathways of obtaining resources and not becoming one-trick ponies who always turn to the same pathway—frequently M&A or building everything internally—until they fall badly behind the competition. Corporations aspiring to be successful must master all four pathways. Additionally, they should regularly review how their existing resources are sourced, because as their strategic relevance to the business changes, so should the pathways used to obtain them—including timely divestments. 40% of 162 ICT firms surveyed by the authors used only one mode of growth. 33% used multiple modes of growth and were shown to be more likely to survive:
• 46% more likely than alliance specialists
• 26% more likely than M&A specialists
• 12% more likely than organic growth specialists
January 25, 2021
Had to read this for business school, but it's honestly pretty accessible and addresses a personal pain point that I've experienced in my career, which is often that alliance and acquisition activities are completely unaligned with company or product strategy. Capron and Mitchell do a great job in reframing corporate development activities as resource acquisition problems and provide an excellent framework for assessing which of these three options you should favor for a given situation. (Actually, borrow has two sub-options, but we all know that for optimal marketing purposes, choices should be presented as a trio. :) ) The authors take pains to also point out that selection error often results from corporate silos, where "build" often reports to a VP of Product / Chief Product Officer, "borrow" often reports to Business Development, and "buy" reports to Corporate Development, and since these three functional silos do not have a common point of reporting outside the CEO, the choice often arises from which VP is shouting the loudest. Accordingly, resource failures often get ascribed to implementation problems rather than incorrect option selection ("the implementation trap") -- unsurprising, given that the SVP who advocated for their chosen option is unlikely to admit that they made such an error. Sadly, too few organizations do what Cisco has done, which is to establish a common reporting line for all three functions.
If you're short on time, Capron & Mitchell's "Finding the Right Path" article in July-August 2010's HBR is a reasonable substitute, although the full rubric to evaluate each option is only available in this book.
If you're short on time, Capron & Mitchell's "Finding the Right Path" article in July-August 2010's HBR is a reasonable substitute, although the full rubric to evaluate each option is only available in this book.
November 13, 2019
It’s one of the most challenging questions an executive team faces—and the wrong answer can break your firm.
The problem is most firms’ growth strategies emphasize just one type of growth—some focus on organic growth, others on M&A. When these strategies falter, the common response is simply to try harder—but firms falling into this “implementation trap” usually end up losing out to a competitor whose approach is more inclusive.
So where do you start? By asking the right questions, argue INSEAD’s Laurence Capron and coauthor Will Mitchell, of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Drawing on decades of research and teaching, Capron and Mitchell find that a firm’s aptitude for determining the best resource pathways for growth has a defining impact on its success. They’ve come up with a helpful framework, reflecting practices of a variety of successful global organizations, to determine which path is best for yours.
https://www.fahasa.com/
The problem is most firms’ growth strategies emphasize just one type of growth—some focus on organic growth, others on M&A. When these strategies falter, the common response is simply to try harder—but firms falling into this “implementation trap” usually end up losing out to a competitor whose approach is more inclusive.
So where do you start? By asking the right questions, argue INSEAD’s Laurence Capron and coauthor Will Mitchell, of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Drawing on decades of research and teaching, Capron and Mitchell find that a firm’s aptitude for determining the best resource pathways for growth has a defining impact on its success. They’ve come up with a helpful framework, reflecting practices of a variety of successful global organizations, to determine which path is best for yours.
https://www.fahasa.com/
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June 17, 2026Some organizations believe that the only way to grow is organically – from the inside out. Others believe that they are merger and acquisition engines, gobbling up other organizations like Pac-Man to get larger. Still others take a contract or alliance perspective that brings in resources and knowledge in a more loosely coupled way. Build, Borrow, or Buy: Solving the Growth Dilemma is about making the right decisions for growth in each situation. Key to understanding the right answer is knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
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October 10, 2025
Good framework to help selecting the right path for growth. However, I personanlly found that the book use too many examples and not all relevant. Some chapter explain high level of concept and then list companies that were successful. I found this piece is less value added. With that said, still a strong fundamental book.
July 24, 2021
Quick and easy read, tonnes of good examples, clear framework. I imagine it would be quite useful for someone running a company. I personally found it a little too consultant-ish. There is a matrix and a flowchart for just about everything, a little too logical and structured for my taste.
May 8, 2014
Excellent and clear approach to a central question for any company working on its growth strategy.
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November 30, 2016May come back sometime to read this book and enjoy it but I was reading it for a class so I do not think I can give an accurate review on this book.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews