Business at a Crossroads : The Crisis of Corporate Leadership

Liberal capitalism harbours two dangerous seeds of self-destruction; growing inequality and, as recent events have demonstrated, a tendency for markets to spiral out of control. This book attributes both of them to fundamental flaws in capitalism's main economic agent, the large, CEO-led, limited liability joint stock company. It explains why the flaws developed, describes how they threaten the liberal capitalist consensus and suggests some steps companies could take to reform themselves and improve their adaptation to today's environment. Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 Reference......Page 24 PART I: What ails big business......Page 26 1 What people want......Page 28 Self-respect is a primary good......Page 30 Free......Page 32 Fair......Page 33 Reasonable......Page 34 Decent......Page 37 Power and powerlessness......Page 39 Good work......Page 42 References......Page 43 A cat ponders a king......Page 44 Business is natural......Page 45 Early trade......Page 47 The precursors of companies......Page 48 The English East India Company......Page 50 From mercantilism to capitalism......Page 52 The Industrial Revolution......Page 54 An accidental birth......Page 55 The birth environment......Page 56 Medieval tournaments......Page 58 The evolutionary puzzle......Page 60 Box: Hudson’s Bay Company......Page 61 References......Page 63 3 The steam-age corporation......Page 64 Why the MuBE emerged......Page 65 Why the MuBE thrived......Page 69 Chandler’s contribution......Page 79 Box: Vickers-Armstrongs......Page 80 References......Page 81 Justice as fairness......Page 82 Growing inequality......Page 85 More than fair shares......Page 91 TARP restrictions on executive pay......Page 92 The gathering storm......Page 95 Barriers to reform......Page 96 A dangerous decadence......Page 98 The argument so far......Page 99 References......Page 100 Greed......Page 101 Asset-skimming......Page 105 An unwholesome alliance......Page 106 An unhappy coincidence......Page 108 The cult of leadership......Page 111 The argument so far......Page 115 References......Page 116 6 The myth of leadership......Page 117 The CEO system......Page 118 The management ideas market......Page 120 The CEO as principal and conductor......Page 122 Systemic risks......Page 124 Fortunes from good fortune......Page 127 The CEO as ambassador......Page 128 Leaders and leadership......Page 129 The argument so far......Page 132 References......Page 133 PART II: Reforming big business......Page 134 7 Leaderless competitors......Page 136 Roads not taken......Page 137 A fractured landscape......Page 140 Box: Patches on landscapes......Page 141 Phase transition......Page 143 The poverty of strategy......Page 145 Linux......Page 148 Wikipedia......Page 152 Stewards, seeders, guardians......Page 155 References......Page 156 The question of purpose......Page 158 Soul and community......Page 161 Too few women......Page 163 Feminine management......Page 166 The arrow and the spiral......Page 169 Talent......Page 170 Ethics......Page 171 Pay......Page 172 The argument so far......Page 173 References......Page 174 9 Size and shape......Page 175 Real business......Page 176 Small and local......Page 177 Power with......Page 178 Box: From an Acorn......Page 180 The parasite’s strategy......Page 182 Partnership problems......Page 183 Yielding power......Page 187 Creative conversation......Page 188 Partnership enterprise......Page 189 References......Page 190 The Individualized Corporation......Page 191 The regents committee......Page 195 Corporate democracy......Page 198 Numbers that nudge......Page 200 Open-book management......Page 201 Measuring CEO performance......Page 203 Redeeming the corporation......Page 204 References......Page 206 C......Page 207 G......Page 208 L......Page 209 Q......Page 210 V......Page 211 Y......Page 212 Machine generated contents note: Re-Thinking The Corporation * The Origins Of The Corporation * The Steam-Age Corporation * The Decadent Corporation * Not So Much Greed * The Myth Of Leadership * The Adaptive Challenge * Size And Shape * Leaderless Competitors * Reforming The Corporation Re-Thinking The Corporation * The Origins Of The Corporation * The Steam-Age Corporation * The Decadent Corporation * Not So Much Greed * The Myth Of Leadership * The Adaptive Challenge * Size And Shape * Leaderless Competitors * Reforming The Corporation. "Recent events suggest liberal capitalism harbours two dangerous seeds of self-destruction; growing inequality and a tendency for markets to spiral out of control. This book advocates the restoration to an earlier state of another sub-system of liberal capitalism, some of the features of which lie at the heart of liberal capitalisms malaise"--Provided by publisher. Recent events suggest liberal capitalism harbours two dangerous seeds of self-destruction; growing inequality and a tendency for markets to spiral out of control. This book advocates the restoration to an earlier state of another sub-system of liberal capitalism, some of the features of which lie at the heart of liberal capitalism's malaise NL-ZmNBD