Emilie Feldman

• Exequiel Hernandez, jens friedmann, Emilie Feldman, Putting Strategy Back into Corporate Strategy: Sequences of Alliances, Acquisitions, and Divestitures.
• Emilie Feldman, Raffi Amit, Siwen Chen (2024), Hedge Fund Activism in Family Firms, Strategic Management Journal. Abstract

  This article examines the antecedents and outcomes of hedge fund activism in family versus nonfamily firms. We find that activist hedge funds are less likely to initiate campaigns against family firms than nonfamily firms, but the cumulative abnormal returns to announcements of campaigns against family firms exceed those of nonfamily firms. The presence of one or more family members on a firm’s board of directors appears to be a key impediment to hedge fund activism in family firms. Additionally, activist hedge funds are more likely to use hostile tactics and demand more substantive changes in their campaigns against family firms than nonfamily firms. Together, these findings contribute to the agency theory-based literatures on hedge fund activism, family firms, boards of directors, and corporate governance.

• Valentina Assenova, Emilie Feldman, Lori Rosenkopf (Working), Conflicts of interest reduce the diffusion of microfinance. Abstract

  Existing studies on innovation diffusion in networks have established that the high network connectivity of “central” actors increases diffusion. However, this research has not accounted for the possibility that the multiple connections of central actors could generate conflicts of interest that impede diffusion. Using data from a prominent field experiment that revealed the usual association between the centrality of “community leaders” tasked with promoting microfinance and its subsequent diffusion, we document a negative relationship between leaders’ lending relationships and microfinance diffusion. That is, leaders who lend are less inclined to promote microfinance because doing so could compromise the returns from their lending relationships. Our analyses show that leaders with conflicts of interest are less effective conduits for innovation diffusion than their centrality might predict.

• Emilie Feldman, Divestitures: Creating Value through Strategy, Structure, and Implementation (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2023)
• Emilie Feldman and Exequiel Hernandez (2022), Synergy in Mergers and Acquisitions: Typology, Lifecycles, and Value, Academy of Management Review, 47 (4), pp. 549-578. Abstract

  Value in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) derives from the synergistic combination of an acquirer and a target. We advance the existing conceptualization of synergies in three ways. First, we develop a theoretically-motivated, parsimonious typology of five distinct sources of synergy based on two underlying dimensions: the level of analysis at which valuable activities occur and the orientation by which those activities are governed. The typology uncovers three novel synergy sources (relational, network, and non-market) arising from acquisition-induced changes in firms’ external cooperative environments, and classifies two other well-known synergies (internal and market power). Second, we introduce the concept of synergy lifecycles to explore how the timing of initial realization and the duration of gains vary across the five synergies, based on differences in the post-merger integration required and in the control the acquirer has over the assets and activities combined by the merger. Third, we consider how the synergy types interact, yielding co-synergies when they complement each other and dis-synergies when they substitute for one other. This enables us to expand the traditional conceptualization of the total value created by M&A as the sum of each of the synergy types, their co-synergies, and their dis-synergies.

• Emilie Feldman and Arkadiy V. Sakhartov (2022), Resource Redeployment and Divestiture as Strategic Alternatives, Organization Science, 33 (3), pp. 926-945. Abstract

  What should the managers of a multi-business firm do when their company’s resources are not used profitably? Research on redeployment proposes that managers should withdraw those resources from the business where they are underutilized and switch them to a business where they can be used more profitably, whereas the literature on divestiture advocates that managers should divest the business containing those resources. In this study, we investigate the factors that lead managers to choose resource redeployment over divestiture as a mode of exit, and vice versa. Using a formal model, we establish that the two exit modes act as intertemporal substitutes, whereby redeployment dominates for earlier exits but divestiture dominates for later exits. Although both redeployment and divestiture are inversely related to their implementation costs, redeployment costs amplify the effect of divestiture costs on the likelihood of exit, and divestiture costs amplify the effect of redeployment costs on the likelihood of exit. Finally, we derive a series of results that show that disregarding one of these two exit options as a strategic alternative to the other may lead to misspecifications of empirical models that seek to predict the likelihood of redeployment, divestiture, or exit. Overall, our work contributes to the corporate strategy literature by uniting two streams of research that have largely remained disparate, yet whose insights have significant implications for each other.

• Emilie Feldman and Arkadiy V. Sakhartov (2021), Prospective on Corporate Renewal, Strategic Management Review, 2 (2), pp. 193-204. Abstract

  This essay introduces the Strategic Management Review Special Issue on Corporate Renewal. Following Hofer and Schendel (1978), we define corporate renewal as a type of strategic renewal
  that is concerned with the processes and outcomes of changes in the scope and resource deployments among a firm’s businesses. We introduce a three-part framework for corporate renewal that highlights the choice among various modes of corporate renewal, the different actors who can implement corporate renewal, and the processes that are involved in the execution of corporate renewal. We draw upon this organizing framework to categorize the essays contained in this volume and to outline potential directions for future research on corporate renewal.

• Emilie Feldman, “Restructuring and Divestitures”. In Strategic Management: State of the Field and Its Future, edited by Irene Duhaime, Michael Hitt, and Marjorie Lyles, (Oxford University Press, 2021) Abstract

  Divestitures are major corporate restructuring transactions that narrow firm boundaries by removing one or more of a company’s businesses, subsidiaries, or divisions. Globally, divestitures account for about 30-40% of overall deal-making activity and create more than double the shareholder value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), their expansionary counterparts. Yet, restructuring and divestitures have been relatively understudied in the field of management. In this chapter, I present an agenda for research into the phenomena of restructuring and divestitures by surveying past and current literature about them and laying out some productive directions for future research in this domain. The core insight to emerge from this chapter is that although divestitures are often seen as reactive solutions to problems within organizations, these transactions are and should be viewed by managers as proactive, strategic tools that have the potential to create significant value for the companies that undertake them.

• Emanuele L. M. Bettinazzi and Emilie Feldman (2021), Stakeholder Orientation and Divestiture Activity, Academy of Management Journal, 64 (4), pp. 1078-1096. Abstract

  We conceptualize divestitures as a costly alternative to the internal resolution of conflicts among stakeholders, albeit one that avoids the more costly liquidation of the firm. In firms that have lower stakeholder orientation (defined as the extent to which management focuses attention on and integrates the interests of multiple stakeholders in its decision-making), divestitures will be less costly than the internal resolution of stakeholder conflicts, while the opposite will be true in firms that have higher stakeholder orientation. Consistent with this argument, we document a negative relationship between stakeholder orientation and divestiture activity, using a unique dateset of 909 U.S.-based, publicly-listed firms from 2002 to 2015. This negative relationship is more pronounced for selloffs than for spinoffs, for selloffs of businesses that are unrelated to or located far from the divesting firm, and for selloffs to acquirers that are not alliance partners of divesting firms. The core contribution of this paper is to treat different types of divestitures as increasingly costly responses to conflicts among stakeholders, thereby populating the theoretical middle ground between negotiated adaptations of firms’ governance structures and total firm failure. In so doing, this paper contributes to research at the intersection of stakeholder theory and corporate strategy.

• Emilie Feldman (2021), The Corporate Parenting Advantage, Revisited, Strategic Management Journal, 42 (1), pp. 114-143. Abstract

  This paper investigates the corporate parenting advantage, the extent to which corporate parents improve the performance of their subsidiaries. Despite the importance of this concept for corporate strategy, researchers have yet to quantify it empirically. I measure the corporate parenting advantage by comparing the performance of utilities that were legally classified into one of two types of holding companies: regulated holding companies, which faced limits on their ability to parent, and exempt holding companies, which did not. I find that observationally similar utilities that were owned by exempt holding companies outperform utilities that were owned by regulated holding companies, and that this performance differential attenuates once the legal restrictions on parenting were lifted. These results provide the first large‐scale empirical evidence of the corporate parenting advantage.

• All Research from Emilie Feldman »

Current Courses

• MGMT7210 - Corporate Development: Mergers And Acquisitions

  This interactive, applied, and case-based course explores the various modes of corporate development available to managers to drive firm growth and change, including alliances, outsourcing, corporate venturing, and particularly mergers and acquisitions. The objectives are three-fold: (1) to arm the student with a set of tools to facilitate the selection of the appropriate growth strategy in a given situation; (2) to provide insights as to how to manage partnerships like alliances, outsourcing, and corporate venturing; and, (3) to develop a comprehensive framework for executing M&As, from initiation to implementation. The emphasis is on strategic and operational aspects of these transactions, rather than financial considerations. Please note that you must fulfill the prerequisites in order to enroll in this class.

  MGMT7210001 ( Syllabus )

  MGMT7210002 ( Syllabus )

Past Courses

• MGMT2490 - Mergers & Acquisitions

  This interactive, applied, and case-based course explores the various modes of corporate development available to managers to drive firm growth and change, including alliances, outsourcing, corporate venturing, and particularly mergers and acquisitions. The objectives are three-fold: (1) to arm the student with a set of tools to facilitate the selection of the appropriate growth strategy in a given situation; (2) to provide insights as to how to manage partnerships like alliances, outsourcing, and corporate venturing; and, (3) to develop a comprehensive framework for executing M&As, from initiation to implementation. The emphasis is on strategic and operational aspects of these transactions, rather than financial considerations. Please note that you must fulfill the prerequisites in order to enroll in this class.

• MGMT7210 - Corp Dev: Merg & Acquis

  This interactive, applied, and case-based course explores the various modes of corporate development available to managers to drive firm growth and change, including alliances, outsourcing, corporate venturing, and particularly mergers and acquisitions. The objectives are three-fold: (1) to arm the student with a set of tools to facilitate the selection of the appropriate growth strategy in a given situation; (2) to provide insights as to how to manage partnerships like alliances, outsourcing, and corporate venturing; and, (3) to develop a comprehensive framework for executing M&As, from initiation to implementation. The emphasis is on strategic and operational aspects of these transactions, rather than financial considerations. Please note that you must fulfill the prerequisites in order to enroll in this class.

• MGMT8970 - Global Modular Course A

  Special course arranged for Wharton MBA students, focused on global business, management and innovation.

• MGMT9250 - Sem Corp Strategy

  This course explores current research on corporate strategy. Over the past two decades, research in the area of corporate strategy has evolved considerably. The fundamental focus of the field has been on sources of competitive advantage at the of the firm, and the process of building and maintaining competitive advantage. In this class, we explore current research articles that best represent the development of rent-generating resources at the level of the firm. Topics addressed include the concept of strategy, research on the evolution of firm capabilities, competitive interaction, top management teams and strategy formation, and changes in firm scope through acquisitions, divestitures and alliances.

• Wharton Teaching Excellence Award, The Wharton School, 2023
• Finalist, Best Proposal Award for Rigor in Research, Competitive Strategy Interest Group, Strategic Management Society Annual Meeting, 2020
• Finalist, Best Paper Award, Corporate Strategy Interest Group, Strategic Management Society Annual Meeting, 2020
• Nominee, Best Paper Prize, Strategic Management Society Annual Meeting, 2020
• Best Paper Award, Corporate and International Strategy Track, STR Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2020
• Best Paper Proceedings, STR Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2020
• Academy of Management Journal Best Reviewer Award, 2019
• 40 Best Business School Professors Under the Age of 40, Poets & Quants, 2019
• Emerging Scholar Award, Strategic Management Society, 2017
• Distinguished Paper Award, Business Policy and Strategy Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2017
• Best Paper Proceedings, Business Policy and Strategy Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2017
• Excellence in Teaching Award, Undergraduate Division, The Wharton School, 2017
• Winner, Best Paper Prize, Strategic Management Society Annual Meeting, 2016
• Best Paper Proceedings, Business Policy and Strategy Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2016
• Strategic Management Journal Outstanding Editorial Review Board Member Award, 2015
• Distinguished Paper Award, Business Policy and Strategy Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2012
• Best Paper Proceedings, Business Policy and Strategy Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2012
• Finalist, Wiley Blackwell Outstanding Dissertation Award in Business Policy and Strategy, Academy of Management, 2011
• Finalist, William H. Newman Award (for the best single-authored paper based on a dissertation completed in the past three years), Academy of Management, 2011
• Outstanding Reviewer Award, BPS Division, Academy of Management, 2011
• Wyss Award for Excellence in Doctoral Research, Harvard Business School, 2010
• Dissertation Completion Fellowship, Harvard Business School, 2009
• Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Derek Bok Center, Harvard University, 2008
• High Distinction, General Exam, Harvard Business School, 2005
• Duesenberry Award, Economics Department, Harvard University, 2004
• Hutchison Prize, Winthrop House, Harvard College, 2004

• Why corporate dealmaking could pick up this year, NPR Marketplace - 01/18/2024
• Lone S&P 500 Stock Ignored by Wall Street Is Paying the Price, Bloomberg - 07/17/2023
• Sales, spins and splits — what are the differences and why do they matter for investors like us?, CNBC - 04/30/2023
• Why divestitures should be a central part of any company’s strategic toolbox, Penn Today - 01/30/2023
• How Divestiture Can Create Corporate Value, Knowledge@Wharton - 01/17/2023
• Divestitures: How They Can Build Value and Increase a Company’s Focus, Wharton Business Daily - 01/12/2023
• Divestiture: The Value-Creating Move You Never Consider, Wharton@Work - 01/11/2023
• Books For MBAs: Wharton Professor’s Groundbreaking New Work on Corporate Divestitures, Poets & Quants - 01/02/2023
• M&A market 'in for more of the same' in 2023, Yahoo News - 12/29/2022
• Are Divestitures the New Dealmaking? How to Create Value in 2023, CNBC - 12/23/2022
• What big tech and buy-out barons have in common with GE, The Economist - 11/03/2022
• Why Amazon’s three biggest deals ever were for a grocery chain, movie studio, and health care provider, CNBC - 07/21/2022
• What the Kellogg spinoff says about downsizing deals in a down market, CNBC - 06/28/2022
• Why Kellogg is turning its back on Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops, CNN Business - 06/22/2022
• Chewing over the Kellogg Co. split: why now?, NPR Marketplace - 06/21/2022
• Wendy’s is getting a shake-up — again, CNN Business - 06/02/2022
• Interview about Potential Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways, Wharton Business Daily - 05/27/2022
• JetBlue Airways faces a quarter-century crossroads after Spirit rejects its takeover offer, CNBC - 05/06/2022
• Why Ford’s big EV split decision may get even bigger in the future, CNBC - 03/06/2022
• When Corporate Breakup is a Path to Value Creation, KPMG Collaboration, KPMG - 02/11/2022
• A new electric vehicle company is planning an IPO, but this one has a long history, CNBC - 12/17/2021
• It’s Not You, It’s Me – Corporate Spinoffs Rebound, Agenda Week - 12/06/2021
• Johnson & Johnson touts ‘golden moment’ to pursue pharma-led future, Financial Times - 11/19/2021
• Why GE and J&J may not be the only iconic companies about to break up, CNBC - 11/16/2021
• Interview about GE and J&J Spinoffs, Wharton Business Daily - 11/12/2021
• To Spin or Not To Spin? Disposals Create Fortunes and Headaches, Wall Street Journal - 04/02/2021
• Think Like an Activist, KPMG Collaboration - 06/11/2020
• Interview about M&A during COVID-19, Wharton Business Daily - 05/01/2020
• Wharton Executive Education Transforms an On-Campus Program to Online – In a Week, Wharton Executive Education - 04/23/2020
• Interview about L Brands and Unilever divestitures, Wharton Business Daily - 02/07/2020
• Value Creation: Take a Cue from Activist Investors, Wharton@Work - 01/06/2020
• Meet the Schwab Exec In Charge of Carrying Out a $26 Billion TD Ameritrade Deal That’s an Aggressive Play for Size and Cost-Cuts, Business Insider - 12/12/2019
• Has the Big Corporate Unwind Gone Too Far?, Wall Street Journal - 10/05/2019
• What Kylie Jenner Can Teach Us About M&A, Wall Street Journal - 07/12/2019
• In ‘Mergers of Equals,’ One Side Is Always a Bit More Equal, Wall Street Journal - 06/14/2019
• (Re)insurance Becomes a Magnet for Activists, The Insurance Insider - 04/02/2019
• Investors Profit When Activists Demand Spin-Offs, Harvard Business Review - 01/18/2019
• How Big Is Too Big? Two Tests that Reveal the True Cost of Owning Multiple Businesses, Wharton@Work - 07/03/2018
• How Big Is Too Big? Two Tests that Reveal the True Cost of Owning Multiple Businesses, Wharton@Work - 07/02/2018
• General Ejected: John Flannery gets down to business restructuring General Electric, The Economist - 06/27/2018
• Can Your Valuation be Improved?, KPMG Collaboration - 06/22/2018
• Judge Approves AT&T-Time Warner Merger, Yahoo! Finance - 06/12/2018
• Possible GE Breakup Could Bring Better Days, Wall Street Journal - 01/01/2018
• Creating Value through Divestitures: Here’s How, Wharton@Work - 10/06/2017
• Creating Value through Divestitures: Here’s How, Wharton@Work - 10/03/2017
• Splitting the Babies: Billionaire Tries to Out-Spin DuPont CEO Ed Breen, the Breakup King, Philadelphia Inquirer - 01/01/2017
• HP Inc. Surprises Wall Street, Outperforms Corporate Sibling, San Francisco Chronicle - 01/01/2017
• Analysis: Companies Make Up, Then Break Up, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - 05/27/2016
• Dell-EMC’s New Name: Blunder or Brilliance?, Information Week - 05/05/2016
• What Ugly Financial Markets Mean for Community’s Big Spinoff Plans, Modern Healthcare - 02/23/2016
• Dysfunctional Symantec-Veritas Deal Sets New Low Bar for Mergers, San Francisco Chronicle - 02/11/2016
• Will Xerox’s Spinoff Unlock Value for Investors?, Knowledge@Wharton - 02/10/2016
• Yahoo Sale Could Still Draw Softbank, Alibaba, USA Today - 01/01/2016
• Interview about Yahoo! Spinoff, Knowledge@wharton Business Radio - 12/15/2015
• What it’s all about: inside the Dow-DuPont merger, WHYY Radio Times - 12/14/2015
• Yahoo’s Tax Focus Has Squandered Big Chance, San Francisco Chronicle - 12/14/2015
• Industrial Giants DuPont, Dow Chemical Announce $130 Billion Merger, NPR - 12/11/2015
• Is a Dow-DuPont Merger Good or Bad for U.S. Biz?, CBS MoneyWatch - 12/09/2015
• U.S. is the M&A Prom Queen, as Dealmaking Record Set, Investor's Business Daily - 12/09/2015
• Selling the Golden-Egg Goose, The New Yorker - 11/23/2015
• ConAgra CEO Put His Stamp on the Company, and in a Hurry, Omaha World-Herald - 11/19/2015
• Why Nikkei Is Betting Big on Digital Growth at the FT, Knowledge@Wharton - 07/29/2015
• Interview about the Nikkei sale of the FT, Knowledge@Wharton Business Radio - 07/28/2015
• The Dark Side of ‘Dual Directors’ in Corporate Spin-Offs, Knowledge@Wharton - 06/30/2015
• DuPont, if Peltz Gets His Way, The News Journal - 03/20/2015
• Barnes & Noble is Betting Slimmer Company Can Beat Amazon, The Street - 03/04/2015
• How Barnes & Noble Can Recover from the Nook’s Downward Spiral, Knowledge@wharton - 12/11/2014
• The Mergers and Acquisitions Cycle: Buy. Divide. Conquer, New York Times - 12/10/2014
• Interview about Barnes & Noble – Nook, Knowledge@wharton Business Radio - 12/10/2014
• Barnes & Noble Move May Signal a Spinoff, NPR Marketplace - 12/04/2014
• Le Divorce, The New Yorker - 11/03/2014
• HP and the Case for Corporate Spinoffs, Knowledge@wharton - 10/17/2014
• Companies Seeing the Advantages in Spinoffs, New York Times - 10/15/2014
• Interview about Hewlett-Packard Spinoff, Knowledge@wharton Business Radio - 10/08/2014
• Allan Sloan’s Year in Review, CNN Money - 12/23/2013
• Picture This: Kodak without its Film Business, Knowledge@wharton Today - 09/14/2012
• Why Microsoft Nabbed the Nook, Knowledge@Wharton - 05/01/2012
• Homeowner Mobility, Divestitures, and the Real Impact of FDI, Knowledge@wharton - 12/07/2011
• Research Roundup: Homeowner Mobility, Divestitures and the Real Impact of FDI, Knowledge@Wharton - 12/07/2011
• Netflix: Two Companies, Double the Headaches?, Knowledge@Wharton - 09/20/2011
• Ernst & Young: Too Big to Fail?, Fortune - 12/21/2010
• An Indictment against Ernst & Young? Maybe Not, Washington Post - 12/21/2010
• KPMG Partners Lucked Out – Thanks to Enron & Arthur Andersen, Washington Post - 09/06/2005

Knowledge @ Wharton

• Building Stronger Family Offices by Sharing Knowledge and Securing the Future, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/21/2024
• State of the NBA with Seth Partnow, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/20/2024
• How Are Companies Really Using AI? A New Report Has Answers, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/19/2024
• Impact vs. Time: A Leader’s Guide to Slow Productivity, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/19/2024
• Kevin O’Leary Illustrates the Benefits of Tariffs for U.S. Businesses, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/19/2024
• Boosting Donations Through Self-expressive Choices | Jonah Berger, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/19/2024
• Why Are Hospitals So Expensive?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/18/2024
• New Phenomena in Behavioral and Social Investing, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/18/2024
• Bigger Hospitals, Better Care? Wharton Research Finds Benefits Are Only at the Operational Level, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/14/2024
• Linda Dow Cash, CEO, Two Chicks Cocktails, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/14/2024