Well said, Savio, except that I do not accept that owners (or agents truly acting in owners' interest) can truly seek to maximize short-term value without also maximizing long-term value. If you're doing something that you hope will maximize short-term value (but that also reduces long-term value, because you don't care about long-term value) then the short-term value will be less. It's not that people can't be fooled, but you're not truly maximizing short-term value--you're just fooling people.
The CP Rail example is a good one: I have been fortunate to have owned stock in that company since before Bill Ackman became involved.