Professor of Management Lisa Stickney co-authored a case study published in The CASE Journal titled, "Corporate governance at Pinterest: time for more changes?"
The case study looks at accusations of discrimination at Pinterest and the legal fallout. In June 2020, some former Pinterest employees publicly claimed the company had gender and racial discrimination problems. Even though Pinterest made some changes, several shareholders sued them. These lawsuits claimed that Pinterest's leadership broke their promises to act in the best interests of the company, wasted company money, abused their power, and broke federal laws about stocks.
This case study describes how Pinterest is managed, who's on the board of directors, and how the company's stock is structured. It also explains who the shareholders are that sued Pinterest and what their specific concerns are.
Basically, this case asks some big questions about what leaders and board members are responsible for in a company. It shows how the way a company's stock is set up can make it hard to hold leaders accountable. Finally, it gives some ideas about how we can judge shareholders who try to push companies to change.
This business case studies business strategy, how companies are run, or how to manage people. It's especially relevant to discussions pertaining to corporate responsibility, ethical leadership, creating good workplace cultures, and how management should respond to pressure from shareholders.
Citation: Shea-Van Fossen, R. J., Stickney, L. T., & Rovenpor, J. (2024). Corporate governance at Pinterest: time for more changes? CASE Journal, 20(4), 890-916.