Corporate Strategy, Organizational Structure and Activist Investors: DuPont versus Trian Fund Management
Douglas W. Lyon, Mika Kusar, and Stephanie Owings
Fort Lewis College, USA
Volume 20: 2025, pp. 000-000; ABSTRACT
This classroom exercise uses multiple short and easy to understand videos found in the
public domain to explore the corporate strategies of related and unrelated diversification and the
implications of organizational structure. This is achieved in the context of activist investor Trian
Fund Management’s proxy battle with DuPont Corporation. The exercise integrates concepts central
to corporate strategy and organizational structure. These are two closely related topics that, due to
the chapter structure of most textbooks, are frequently taught in isolation from one another. The
hindsight afforded by the recent news of DuPont’s breakup into three entities makes this exercise
especially timely and powerful. The authors use this exercise in their undergraduate Management
Principles classes and their Management Strategy classes. Additionally, this exercise is well-suited
for International Business courses, as it explores how diversification strategies play out in a global
context. The exercise requires one class period plus some online work to be completed prior to class.
Student feedback is very positive.
Keywords: related diversification, unrelated diversification, organizational structure, multinational
corporations.
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