https://hbr.org/2018/06/ges-fall-has-been-accelerated-by-two-problems-most-other-big-companies-face-them-too
"Sadly, that is the core story of the toxic combination of activist investors and mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures masquerading as strategy in the modern economy. Executives can’t wish away the plague of activist investors — they will be here to stay until their true track records become clearer — but by pursuing strategies that continually improve their value equations with customers, they can at least keep the activists looking elsewhere."