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Product cover image for Danone: Leading Change by Rejigging Purpose?

Danone: Leading Change by Rejigging Purpose?

Tulsi Jayakumar, Surya Tahora

Product #:W25287
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Organizational Behaviour/Leadership, Sustainability
Setting:France, 2021
Details:Case (PDF) • 18 pages • 2021-10-22

Subjects:

CapitalismEconomic systemsOrganizational cultureLeadership and managing peopleOrganizational behaviorManagement

Industries:

Fabrication and manufacturing

Geography:

EuropeFrance
Your Price:$9.71

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In March 2021, faced with emphatic calls from a minority group of dissatisfied investors worried about Danone SA’s poor financial performance, Danone’s board of directors asked Emmanuel Faber, Danone’s chair and chief executive officer (CEO), to step down from his leadership position.

Danone had a long history of being a purpose-driven company, and Faber’s personal values mirrored the company’s values. Why did a historically purpose-driven company succumb to the demands of a minority of shareholders? How would Faber’s departure affect the general movement toward responsible capitalism? Was his strategy justifiable and should it be continued or rejigged under a new CEO?

Learning Objectives

This case is intended to be taught in graduate-level courses dealing with business ethics, sustainability, ethical decision-making, strategy, governance, or leadership. The case can also form a module in a leadership course within an advanced management or executive education program. This case invokes the classic tussle between the pursuit of shareholder value (profits) versus stakeholder value from the point of view of corporations and corporate CEOs. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to
  • distinguish between the goals of maximizing shareholder wealth and maximizing stakeholder value;
  • recognize and understand the contradictions between the pursuit of these two goals;
  • analyze the impact of various decisions on multiple stakeholder groups; and
  • evaluate how CEOs should balance the dual mandate of shareholder value creation and sustainability.
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Case Study: Danone: Leading Change by Rejigging Purpose? (English version) | Ivey Publishing