Gene Lee Navigates the Darden Takeover

Joshua D. Margolis; H. Lawrence  Culp; James  Barnett; Aldo  Sesia

Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2018 (Revised September 2018)

Gene Lee Navigates the Darden Takeover

by Joshua D. Margolis, H. Lawrence Culp, James Barnett and Aldo Sesia

Abstract

Following a full takeover of Darden Restaurant’s Board of Directors, Darden COO Gene Lee is weighing an offer to become interim CEO.

Keywords: shareholder activism; Investment Activism; Crisis Management; Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions; Food and Beverage Industry; United States;

Language: English

Format: Print

18 pages

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Citation:

Margolis, Joshua D., H. Lawrence Culp, James Barnett, and Aldo Sesia. "Gene Lee Navigates the Darden Takeover." Harvard Business School Case 418-015, March 2018. (Revised September 2018.)

Danish-born Bjarke Ingels is regarded as a giant in the field of architecture. He started his firm – the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) – in 2005 in Copenhagen. Fourteen years later, the firm has additional offices in New York City, London, and Barcelona and employs over 500 people. BIG is known for what Ingels calls “hedonistic sustainability,” and its designs include a waste-to-energy treatment plant replete with a ski slope, and a multi-storied residential building where residents can bike to their apartments. In 2019, the firm is experiencing growth pains. Demands on Ingels and the firm’s infrastructure are intensifying. Ingels and BIG’s CEO Sheela Maini Søgaard, along with the firm’s other partners, know the firm needs to adapt – organizationally and operationally – to be successful in the future. The case study provides background on Ingels, the creation and evolution of BIG, and the challenges the firm and its leadership face.

Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2019 (Revised June 2019)

From Globalization to Dual Digital Transformation: CEO Thierry Breton Leading Atos Into 'Digital Shockwaves' (A)

Tsedal Neeley, JT Keller and James Barnett

Thierry Breton, chairman and CEO of IT company Atos, faced a pivotal juncture. After spending eight intense years scaling the company globally to over 100,000 employees in 70 countries, he was ready to take the next crucial step. Breton was convinced that rapid digital shockwaves would cause transformative disruption and become key to competitiveness for companies, including his own. To take the digital leap, Breton needed Atos to undergo dual digital transformation—defined as redesigning the underlying processes and competencies of an organization to become more adaptive using digital technology, from artificial intelligence and machine learning to the Internet of Things, while simultaneously guiding customers through the same changes. Breton had also struck a high-profile partnership with Google to deliver cloud design and artificial intelligence to customers. But now that the deal had been announced, Atos had to deliver. The firm's top leadership was split on how to equip Atos' large workforce for its digital transformation. In one view, Atos needed to motivate the majority of its employees to voluntarily complete digital certification programs. In another view, on-the-job learning was the best way to train both technical and non-technical employees in the digital skills relevant to their respective roles. Breton had to determine which approach would be the fastest and most effective way of upskilling his workforce to meet the demands of dual digital transformation.

Keywords: dual digital transformation; Transformation; Disruption; Employees; Competency and Skills; Training; Decision Making;

Citation:

Neeley, Tsedal, JT Keller, and James Barnett. "From Globalization to Dual Digital Transformation: CEO Thierry Breton Leading Atos Into 'Digital Shockwaves' (A)." Harvard Business School Case 419-027, April 2019. (Revised June 2019.) View Details

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