Shareholders or stakeholders? Net Positive, by Paul Polman and Andrew Winston

Shareholder vs Stakeholders ?

Companies can be represented by two models at different ends of a spectrum.

1. One serves a handful of owners of capital and funnels the gains to them. It maximizes shareholder returns and obsesses over cutting costs to raise profits now.

1. The other model sees the purpose of business differently and aspires to thrive, over the long term, by serving all stakeholders.

When people talk about the difference between shareholder and stakeholder capitalism, they're describing these two models.

The second model, which a small but growing number of companies pursue, is the only one fit for a thriving future and a stable society.

But it needs to be pushed even further, so that businesses--through better operations, products, and services -create more value, attract more customers and partners, heal the planet, and increase the wellbeing of everyone they impact.

Companies pursuing this model are better positioned for the future and ultimately more successful."

This is an extract from the book I started reading:

Net Positive: how courageous companies thrive by giving more than they take

by Paul Polman (ex-CEO of Unilever) and Andrew Winston

It provides a compelling vision of the role of business in society and the impact it can have on the world.

Image: launch visual of the book (Harvard Business Review Press).

Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take

Net Positive (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021) is by Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, and Andrew Winston. It argues that companies thrive over the long term by serving all their stakeholders, not only their shareholders, and shows with Unilever and other examples how a business can aim to give more to the world than it takes.

Source: site du livre