Capitalism at Risk, Updated and Expanded: How Business Can Lead

Description

The spread of capitalism worldwide has made people wealthier than ever before. But capitalism's future is far from assured. Income inequality, resource depletion, mass migrations from poor to rich countries, religious fundamentalism, the misuse of social media and cyberattacks - these are just a few of the threats to continuing prosperity that we see dominating the headlines every day. How can capitalism be sustained? And who should spearhead the effort? Critics turn to government. In Capitalism at Risk, Harvard Business School professors Joseph Bower, Herman Leonard, and Lynn Paine argue that while governments must play a role, businesses should take the lead. For enterprising companies - whether large multinationals, established regional players, or small start-ups--the current threats to market capitalism present important opportunities. Capitalism at Risk draws on discussions with business leaders around the world to identify twelve potential disruptors of the global market system. Presenting examples of companies already making a difference, the authors explain how business must serve both as innovator and activist - developing corporate strategies that effect change at the community, national, and international levels.

Joseph L. Bower is the Donald K. David Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School. Over the past five decades, his research has focused on the challenges involved in leading companies as they deal with important changes in the economic, social, and political environment. Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard is the Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and the George F. Baker, Jr., Professor of Public Sector Management at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. His work at HBS has focused on corporate social responsibility and the leadership of socially oriented components of business organizations. Lynn S. Paine is the John G. McLean Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. She has written widely on leadership and corporate governance, with a focus on how companies can meet high ethical standards while delivering outstanding financial results. You can find the authors at: Joseph. L. Bower: hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=6426 Herman B. Leonard: hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=271872, hks.harvard.edu/faculty/herman-b-dutch-leonard Lynn S. Paine: hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=6526

Advance Praise for Capitalism at Risk, Updated and Expanded edition: "When this book was first published, in 2011, the authors broke new ground by identifying a number of disrupters that had emerged to challenge the global economic system. Today our world is in even greater turmoil because of these and other developments, and the authors' original call for business action as a force for good is more pressing than ever. By providing timely guidance for companies, and by connecting corporate action to economic outcomes, the authors make the case that we must collectively improve and strengthen our global system to be fairer, more inclusive, and more robust. This is a call for action that no company should ignore." - Victor K. Fung, Group Chairman, Fung Group "Professors Bower, Leonard, and Paine have laid down a massive challenge that should be accepted not only by business leaders—the essential wealth creators—to whom it is specifically addressed, but by all who aspire to lead the political, administrative, and investment processes throughout the world. This is even more vital today as the socioeconomics of the business world are facing even stronger headwinds." - Sir David Scholey, Senior Adviser, UBS Investment Bank "The message of this book is clear. To survive and prosper over the long term, learn how to adapt your business model by making it a servant to society and the environment. Not the other way around." - Paul Polman, Co-founder and Chair, IMAGINE; former CEO, Unilever "An important book. The authors argue that the future of market-driven capitalism is at risk unless business leaders develop new strategies that reduce the negative fallouts of the system, such as growing income disparity and environmental degradation. A clarion call for business to take the lead in saving the system of market capitalism." - Barbara Hackman Franklin, President and CEO, Barbara Franklin Enterprises; former US Secretary of Commerce