Taming the octopus : the long battle for the soul of the corporation / Kyle Edward Williams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Williams, Kyle Edward, author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social responsibility of business--United States--History.

Social responsibility of business.

Corporations--United States--History.

Corporations.

Capitalism--United States--History.

Capitalism.

Physical Description:

290 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : W.W. Norton & Company, [2024]

Summary:

"In this vivid and surprising history, we meet activists, investors, executives, and workers who fought over a simple question: Is the role of the corporation to deliver profits to shareholders, or something more? On one side were "business statesmen" who believed corporate largess could solve social problems. On the other were libertarian intellectuals such as Milton Friedman and his oft-forgotten contemporary, Henry Manne, whose theories justified the ruthless tactics of a growing class of corporate raiders. But Williams reveals that before the "activist investor" emerged as a capitalist archetype, Civil Rights groups used a similar playbook for different ends, buying shares to change a company from within.As a rising tide of activists pushed corporations to account for societal harms from napalm to environmental pollution to inequitable hiring, a new idea emerged: that managers could maximize value for society while still turning a maximal profit. This elusive ideal, "stakeholder capitalism," still dominates our headlines today. Williams's necessary history equips us to reconsider democracy's tangled relationship with capitalism."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: What is the corporation good for?

The new princes of industry

The single and most serious danger

Building the city of god

Fighting for jobs

"A bundle of assets"

The rise of the corporate guerrilla fighter

Making social responsibility corporate

"There is no such thing as a corporate responsibility"

Nothing to ask permission for

Conclusion: Larry Fink, president of the world.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-278) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

ISBN:

9780393867237

0393867234

OCLC:

1420357847

Publisher Number:

99995998213