Novell (A): When an Activist Hedge Fund Came Calling on the Board

Richard L. Nolan

Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2015 (Revised February 2016)

Novell (A): When an Activist Hedge Fund Came Calling on the Board

Abstract

No corporation and its board of directors is immune to a disruptive shareholder activist attack. The Novell (A) and (B) cases take students through a shareholder activist attack and its aftermath—a saga that spanned 5 years. The cases outline the activist playbook in conducting an attack, the board's response, and key decisions that must be made.

Keywords: Investment Activism;

Language: English

Format: Print

11 pages

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Citation:

Nolan, Richard L. "Novell (A): When an Activist Hedge Fund Came Calling on the Board." Harvard Business School Case 916-404, September 2015. (Revised February 2016.)

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During the past 50 years, several consulting companies introduced important new ideas that extended management theory and improved management practice. This paper draws upon public sources and the authors’ personal experiences to describe how three management consulting companies created and sustained several big management ideas. The consulting organizations identified companies that had introduced an innovation to address a practice gap or anomaly. It then described the innovation in articles, cases, and public conferences and proceeded to help a new set of companies implement the management innovation, which led to enhancements in the original innovation that made it more understandable, generalizable, and robust. The consulting leaders sustained their thought-leadership positions by creating an ecosystem with senior executives at pioneer corporations and academic/thought leaders. The paper also describes how other consulting companies did not sustain an initial thought-leadership position because of a failure to recognize the synergistic interplay between knowledge application and knowledge creation.

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Novell (A): When an Activist Hedge Fund Came Calling on the Board

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Novell (A): When an Activist Hedge Fund Came Calling on the Board

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