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Divesting proactively

Breaking up, it turns out, really is hard to do. For many executives, the prospect of selling a business triggers a vague sense of dread. Perhaps the sale will seem like a tacit admission of failure or evidence of poor management. In some close-knit corporate cultures, it may even smack of treason. We believe that such a bias against divestitures serves companies poorly and that most CEOs can boost performance by thinking about divestiture more proactively.