links for 2009-11-28

Cleary more of this on a grander scale would have helped.

Another example of a homegrown business getting big and, at some point, forgetting  about keeping its shareholders close to its business and immersed in its values. IMHO what was required here was a marketing solution to solve a business problem: why were Cadbury's incumbent agencies not working to leverage brand advocates in order to create, or amplify, a groundswell that protested against the takeover? Also what was the investor relations agency, department or function doing? 

Proactive prevention is also better than cure. In reality all Plc's need to do more than hold board meetings and send out annual reports; stakeholders really need to be immersed in an organisations long-term goals and culture in order to prevent forced takeovers. 

Lessons can be learned from the Forte takeover in the 90's: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forte_Group