To fill out product line, Brøderbund was looking at several acquisitions and joint venture deals. Rumors that Brøderbund itself was a takeover target surfaced from time to time. Brøderbund ‘s executive team needed to formulate a strategy that would take into consideration this apparent tug-of-war between the need to promote creativity to develop a portfolio of new products and investors’ demands for greater operating efficiency to assure a continuously growing earnings stream and stock price appreciation.