Insights

“Chainsaw Al” is not the sort of nickname that most people would want but Albert J. Dunlap seemed to revel in it. The nickname was featured prominently in obituaries after his death early this year. The New York Times’s obit said that Dunlap earned it because of his “ardor for turning around troubled companies by laying off workers and closing factories.” He had other nicknames, including “the Shredder” and “Rambo in Pinstripes.”

Dunlap first came to