Firm Commitment
Why the corporation is failing us and how to restore trust in it
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
The corporation is one of the most important and remarkable institutions in the world. It affects all our lives continuously. It feeds, entertains, houses and, employs us. It generates vast amounts of revenue for those who own it and it invests a substantial proportion of the wealth that we possess. But the corporation is also the cause of immense problems and suffering, a source of poverty and pollution, and its failures are increasing. How is the corporation failing us? Why is it happening? What should we do to restore trust in it? While governments are subject to repeated questioning and scrutiny, the corporation receives relatively little attention.
Firm Commitment provides a lucid and insightful account of the role of the corporation in modern society and explains why its problems are growing. It gives a fresh perspective on the crises in financial markets, developing countries, and the environment. Based on decades of analysis and research, it describes a new approach to thinking about the firm which not only stops it destroying us but turns it into the means of protecting our environment, addressing social problems, and creating new sources of entrepreneurship and innovation. It sets out an agenda for converting the corporation into a twenty-first century organization that we will value and trust. It takes you on a journey that starts in the Galapagos, ends in Ancient Egypt, and in the process brings you to a new level of appreciation of the economic world we inhabit.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Given today's distrust of big companies, it's easy to overlook the importance of the corporation-as-institution in American daily life. Economist Mayer, former dean of Oxford University's Said Business School, shines a light both approving and critical on the institution, exposing its the real impact on the American public. As he writes: "The corporation is becoming a creature that threatens to consume us in its own avaricious ambitions." Mayer discusses how we arrived at our current state, how we're now being failed by the corporate structure, and what can be done about it including suggestions for policy makers. His approach is remarkably even-tempered, noting that if markets fail, we need more regulations and state engagement, but when state organizations fail, then privatization and more liberal markets are required. His knowledge is encyclopedic, and it's a pity that his tone remains dry when discussing even the more sobering subjects including acquisitions, corporate governance, and developing nations. Mayer makes a wholly convincing case for the need to restore ethics and trust in corporations, but the language puts this out of the reach of the layperson reader.
