The End of the Corporation
Companies are struggling to find a strategy to survive the realities of doing business in a digital world.
Yesterday, I asked Siri: “What is the purpose of a corporation?”
A tricky question, right? But wow. Within seconds, Siri came back with a list of possible answers. It appears that this question caused lots of excitement last week.
On August 19, the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading companies in the United States, changed their view that corporations mainly exist to serve their investors. In a new statement, corporate leaders made it clear that the purpose of a corporation is to create value for everyone who is somehow involved in the business.
This statement triggered a lot of “talk” online (Twitter, blogs, newspaper articles, etc.).
What surprised me though was the negative response. “The statement is just window-dressing. A cheap and easy way to address anti-corporate sentiment.” “Business leaders are using the statement as a defense mechanism against activist investors.” The statement is a Dr. Evil-type scheme to take over the corporate world.”
But when I read the statement, I thought it was nothing more than the first step in acknowledging the end of…
