Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(469)
- Faculty Publications (119)
- November 2019
- Supplement
United Technologies Corp.: Are the Parts Worth More Than the Whole?
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher
After spending more than 50 years creating a diversified industrial conglomerate that Fortune Magazine described as “arguably the most profitable conglomerate in America” in 2014, UTC’s CEO Greg Hayes was under pressure from activist investors (Dan Loeb and Bill... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Business Conglomerates; Financial Management; Corporate Governance; Organizational Structure; Diversification; Valuation; Investment Activism; Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Value Creation; Aerospace Industry; Electronics Industry; Industrial Products Industry; United States
- November 2019 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
United Technologies: Are the Parts Worth More Than the Whole?
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher
After spending more than 50 years creating a diversified industrial conglomerate that Fortune magazine described as “arguably the most profitable conglomerate in America” in 2014, UTC’s CEO Greg Hayes was under pressure from activist investors (Dan Loeb and Bill... View Details
- October 2019
- Case
A Conversation with Ellen J. Kullman, Chairman & CEO of DuPont, 2009-2015
By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz
Ellen J. Kullman, the retired Chairman and CEO of DuPont, describes how she guided the storied science and technology company through a contentious proxy battle with activist investor Trian Partners, which acquired DuPont shares in 2013 and sought to break up the... View Details
- January 2019
- Article
Increasing the Electoral Participation of Immigrants: Experimental Evidence from France
By: Vincent Pons and Guillaume Liegey
Improving the political participation of immigrants could advance their interests and foster their integration into receiving countries. In this study, 23,800 citizens were randomly assigned to receive visits from political activists during the lead-up to the 2010... View Details
- November 2018 (Revised June 2019)
- Case
JANA Partners: Impact through Activism?
By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Caitlin Reimers Brumme
Jana Partners, a well-known “activist” hedge fund has announced the launch of a new fund Jana Impact. The basic premise is that the fund will be able to generate superior returns by using Jana’s activist approach with companies that are underperforming on ESG metrics.... View Details
- October 2018
- Case
The Proxy Fight at ADP
By: Robin Greenwood and E. Scott Mayfield
In July 2017, shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) surged 12% following a report that the activist investor Bill Ackman had acquired a sizable stake in the company and planned to nominate his own slate of directors at the company’s annual meeting in... View Details
- August 2018 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
The Fuji-Xerox Merger
By: Guhan Subramanian and Annie Zhao
In January 2018, Xerox, a well-known American digital document firm, convened its board of directors to decide whether to approve a merger with Japanese imaging company Fujifilm. Activist Xerox shareholders were suing to halt the transaction, and documents unearthed... View Details
- April 2018
- Case
Miami's Tech Future (Abridged): Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Leadership Challenges
By the middle of the 1990s, Miami’s reputation was changing. An influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants and major investments in the airport and seaport had changed the image of a sleepy southern city to the de facto business center of Latin America, a center for... View Details
- March 27, 2018
- Other Article
Why CEOs Are Taking a Stand
By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel
In this podcast, we discuss the emerging phenomenon of CEO activism. We explain how political polarization in the U.S. and employee expectations around company values are pushing corporate leaders to enter into controversial political and social debates. We also hear... View Details
- March 2018
- Case
Sachem Head's Activism at Autodesk
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher
In 2015, activist hedge fund Sachem Head Capital, led by founder Scott Ferguson, launched an activist campaign at computer aided design (CAD) software maker Autodesk. The activist campaign, waged mainly in private, was over Autodesk's lackluster financial performance,... View Details
- Other Article
Sidestepping Some of the Partisan Debate: An Interview with Max Stier
By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel
Whereas some organizational leaders are engaging in CEO activism by speaking out on social and political issues not directly related to their bottom line, some leaders want to avoid doing so. Some, in fact, hold neutrality as a core component of their strategy. But... View Details
- February 2018
- Case
Whole Foods and JANA Partners
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher
In 2017, JANA Partners decided to launch an activist campaign at struggling supermarket chain Whole Foods Market. The company had struggled for the past several years, and JANA thought the presence of new directors could help turn around its operations, while Whole... View Details
- January 2018
- Case
Mary Barra, CEO, General Motors
By: Nitin Nohria, Kerry Herman and Sarah Gulick
Library case detailing the career of Mary Barra, GM’s CEO from January 2014, and her handling of the GM ignitions scandal, GM’s move into electric and autonomous car development, and activist investors. View Details
- January 2018
- Case
Trian Partners' Proxy Contest at Procter & Gamble
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher
In July 2017, activist hedge fund Trian Partners announced that it was launching a proxy fight at U.S. consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble. P&G would be the largest company ever subjected to a proxy fight, as Trian sought to have its CEO, Nelson Peltz, elected to the... View Details
- January 2018
- Case
Blue Harbour's Activism at Babcock & Wilcox
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher
The case describes Blue Harbour Group's investment in Babcock & Wilcox and its transformation into BWX Technologies. In 2004, activist hedge fund Blue Harbour Group invested in Babcock & Wilcox, an energy and construction company. Blue Harbour developed an investment... View Details
- January 2018
- Case
PrimeStone Capital and dormakaba
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher
London-based activist hedge fund PrimeStone Capital identifies a potential investment in Swiss security company Kaba. PrimeStone believes that the company is undervalued because it has been pushing back various financial targets and thinks it can help by proposing a... View Details
- January–February 2018
- Article
The New CEO Activists
By: Aaron K Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel
Though corporations have been lobbying the government and making campaign donations for a long time now, in recent years a dramatic new trend has emerged in U.S. politics: CEOs are taking very public stands on thorny political issues that have nothing to do with their... View Details
- November 2017 (Revised September 2020)
- Supplement
Miami's Tech Future (C): Reaching Another Miami
The effects of Miami’s startup scene have not reached many “left-behind” lower-income Black communities, which are disproportionately affected by problems such as segregation and racial discrimination, lack of transportation access, crime, education quality, government... View Details
Keywords: Technology; Change; Transformation; Progress; Scaling; Startup; Community Engagement; Community Impact; Community Relations; Future; Income Inequality; Business; Change Management; Business Startups; Information Technology; Diversity; Race; Equality and Inequality; Social Issues; Business and Community Relations; Miami; Florida
- May 2017 (Revised October 2017)
- Teaching Note
eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014, and A Note on Activist Investors and the Tech Sector
By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin
Teaching note to accompany eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014, HBS Case #717-417; eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014: Interview with John Donahoe, eBay CEO 2008-2015; A Note on Activist Investors and the Tech Section HBS Case #716-462 View Details
- March 2017
- Supplement
eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014: Interview with John Donahoe, eBay CEO 2008-2015
By: David B. Yoffie, Eric Baldwin and Tom Ryder
This video, a supplement to HBS Case No. 717-417, features an interview with former eBay CEO John Donahoe, providing his perspective on eBay's response to activist investor Carl Icahn's attack on eBay, which began in January 2014. After giving some of his own... View Details