Target Corporation: Ackman Versus the Board

Posted: 16 Mar 2012

See all articles by Krishna Palepu

Krishna Palepu

Harvard University - Harvard Business School; Harvard University - David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Research; Harvard Business Review; NBER; International Academy of Management

Suraj Srinivasan

Harvard Business School

James Weber

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: January 19, 2011

Abstract

After 15 years of great performance, Target's faltering performance during an economic downturn led an activist shareholder to initiate a proxy fight. Target Corporation, the second-largest discount store retailer in the U.S., had competed successfully against industry leader Walmart for years by promoting an upscale discount shopping experience in comparison to Walmart's focus on low prices. This strategy worked well for Target in good economic times. The economic crisis of 2008-2009, however, caused shoppers to abandon Target in favor of Walmart. In the spring of 2009, one of Target's largest shareholders initiated a proxy fight to place his five director nominees on the board. Target won the proxy fight, but still faced questions about whether it had a strategy that could work in both good times and bad.

The case describes Target's business strategy and challenges to the strategy by an activist investor Bill Ackman who demands changes to Target's board to help implement the strategic shift that he proposes. The case is used to analyze long term drivers of value for Target and how the strategy has come under pressure. The case allows students to evaluate the merits of the activist investor's challenges to the company's strategy and the board's response to it. In addition, the case describes Bill Ackman's demand for changes on the board and the proxy fight to enable a discussion of the role of the board, board composition, and the proposed SEC proxy voting rules in the context of Target's proxy fight.

Suggested Citation

Palepu, Krishna and Srinivasan, Suraj and Weber, James, Target Corporation: Ackman Versus the Board (January 19, 2011). Harvard Business School Accounting & Management Unit Case No. 109-010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2021949

Krishna Palepu (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Harvard Business School ( email )

Soldiers Field Road
Morgan 270C
Boston, MA 02163
United States
617-495-6759 (Phone)
617-496-7363 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://drfd.hbs.edu/fit/public/facultyInfo.do?facInfo=pub&facId=6527

Harvard University - David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Research ( email )

1730 Cambridge St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/professors/view/150

Harvard Business Review ( email )

Boston, MA
United States

HOME PAGE: http://hbr.org/authors/palepu

NBER ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.nber.org/people/krishna_palepu

International Academy of Management ( email )

Avenida Pearson 21
Barcelona, 08034
Spain

HOME PAGE: http://theiam.ws/?person=palepu-krishna

Suraj Srinivasan

Harvard Business School ( email )

Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=10700

James Weber

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
2,983
PlumX Metrics