Starboard Value has redefined “activist” investor by putting its employees to work.
Starboard CEO Jeff Smith wanted all his new directors to have a feel for the hedge fund’s latest investment, Darden Restaurants. So he gave everyone a shift at the Darden-owned Olive Garden. Reports Bloomberg:
“It was not undercover — everyone knew,” Smith said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers” with Stephanie Ruhle and Erik Schatzker. “It was an amazing experience. We felt we could not make the decisions without knowing what was happening in the restaurants.”
Smith and his team got some insight into the kitchen and customer satisfaction. Staff usually offer new ideas that executives don’t always see, such as using Olive Garden’s addictive breadsticks as sandwich buns. Restaurant staff were already creating the stick-buns for their own meals, and now the restaurant will be offering customers two new sandwiches using the same approach.
Photo: Mike Mozart via Flickr.