Prosperity (better Business Makes The Greater Good)

By (author) Mayer Colin
Short description/annotation
Does business just exist to maximise shareholder profit? The belief it does has had disastrous consequences for our economies, environment, politics, and societies, argues Colin Mayer. In an urgent call for reform, he sets out an agenda to remake the corporation into a powerful force for promoting economic and social wellbeing in its fullest sense.
Description
What is business for? Day one of a business course will tell you: it is to maximise shareholder profit. This single idea pervades all our thinking and teaching about business around the world but it is fundamentally wrong, Colin Mayer argues. It has had disastrous and damaging consequences for our economies, environment, politics, and societies. In this urgent call for reform, Prosperity challenges the fundamentals of business thinking. It sets out a comprehensive new agenda for establishing the corporation as a unique and powerful force for promoting economic and social wellbeing in its fullest sense - for customers and communities, today and in the future. First Professor and former Dean of the Säid Business School in Oxford, Mayer is a leading figure in the global discussion about the purpose and role of the corporation. In Prosperity, he presents a radical and carefully considered prescription for corporations, their ownership, governance, finance, and regulation. Drawing together insights from business, law, economics, science, philosophy, and history, he shows how the corporation can realize its full potential to contribute to economic and social wellbeing of the many, not just the few. Prosperity tells us not only how to create and run successful businesses but also how policy can get us there and fix our broken system.
Table of contents
Part I: Principles 1: Purpose 2: Values Part II: Provenance 3: Evolution 4: Ownership Part III: Practice 5: Governance 6: Performance Part IV: Policy 7: Law 8: Regulation Part V: Partnership 9: Finance 10: Investment
Review quote
Review from previous edition "Mayer of the Saïd Business School at Oxford is one of the world''s foremost critics of the idea that the aim of companies is to maximise shareholder value. This, he argues cogently, represents a betrayal of one of humanity''s most extraordinary inventions."
Review quote
The book is far more than a manifesto for change ... Mayer''s book performs a great service.
Review quote
"A powerful reply to the steadily increasing criticism of free market business... So far, the defenders of capitalism have failed to find a convincing voice or to offer any significant ways to improve how business is perceived. Now Colin Mayer provides answers and a coherent manifesto for change."
Review quote
"A wonderful manifesto for change and essential reading for any who remain to be convinced that business can - and should - be a force for a societal good. One of the most insightful and comprehensive accounts yet of how - and why - the corporation needs to change if it is to meet the needs and expectations of a new era. Thoughtful and well-argued, Mayer has done the cause of enlightened capitalism great service."
Biographical note
Colin Mayer is the Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. He is a Professorial Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford and an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford and St Anne''s College, Oxford. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to business education and the administration of justice in the economic sphere in the 2017 New Years Honours. Colin Mayer was the first professor at the Saïd Business School, and the first Director of the Oxford Financial Research Centre. He was also previously the Peter Moores Dean of the Business School. He was a Harkness Fellow at Harvard University, a