Corporate development is the process of identifying and exploiting business opportunities with the goal of increasing sales. It can include everything from acquiring competitors, to collaborating with other companies in joint ventures. This function board portals is usually outside the traditional departments of accounting/finance, logistics/supply chains, controlling/human resource.

The corporate development team must have excellent interpersonal skills as well as a solid understanding of the business model of each company they work with. They should be able to quickly and efficiently assess the possibility of a deal and make informed decisions. The corporate development team must be able to communicate effectively with other departments within the organization and work closely with other departments.

The main goal of corporate development is to grow the company through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The M&A process is often complex and requires extensive analysis and research. The corporate development team must be able to determine the right companies for each M&A opportunity and assess whether the transaction in question is a good match.

There are a variety of ways you can build a corporate development group from a single, central unit to a decentralized structure where the business chooses the appropriate members to meet the needs of each situation. The team is typically made up of finance and business professionals. A strong mix of skills is crucial to ensure that deals are sourced efficiently and in accordance with the company’s objectives.

The most successful corporate development executives have an education in finance or business as they must be able to align the technological, strategic and product goals with the financial goals of the company. This can be difficult for those with more of an academic background in marketing but it is a crucial ability when it comes to M&As.