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posted by martyb on Friday January 24 2020, @04:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the Better-ask-Betteridge? dept.

Capitalism is in trouble – at least judging by recent polls.

A majority of American millennials reject the economic system, while 55% of women age 18 to 54 say they prefer socialism. More Democrats now have a positive view of socialism than capitalism. And globally, 56% of respondents to a new survey agree "capitalism as it exists today does more harm than good in the world."

One problem interpreting numbers like these is that there are many definitions of capitalism and socialism. More to the point, people seem to be thinking of a specific form of capitalism that deems the sole purpose of companies is to increase stock prices and enrich investors. Known as shareholder capitalism, it's been the guiding light of American business for more than four decades. That's what the survey meant by "as it exists today."

As a scholar of socially responsible companies, however, I cannot help but notice a shift in corporate behavior in recent years. A new kind of capitalism seems to be emerging, one in which companies value communities, the environment and workers just as much as profits.

The latest evidence: Companies as diverse as alcohol maker AB InBev, airline JetBlue and money manager BlackRock have all in recent weeks made new commitments to pursue more sustainable business practices.

[...] A 2017 study showed that many companies with climate change goals actually scaled back their ambitions over time as the reality clashed with their lofty goals.

But businesses can't afford to ignore their customers' wishes. Nor can they ignore their workers in a tight labor market. And if they disregard socially responsible investors, they risk both losing out on important investments and facing shareholder resolutions that force change.

The shareholder value doctrine is not dead, but we are beginning to see major cracks in its armor. And as long as investors, customers and employees continue to push for more responsible behavior, you should expect to see those cracks grow.

The Conversation


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 24 2020, @05:00PM (1 child)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday January 24 2020, @05:00PM (#948006)

    Marketing is a tiny expense with a huge ROI.

    While we lived in Houston, we went to a toddler's play place and frequently met another mom there who was a "Pelican washer" for one of the big petroleum companies. Her job was to go around wherever oil was spilled (think Exxon Valdez, but it's a continuous thing around the world all the time) and find some photogenic wildlife that was hurt by the oil, but not hurt too bad, take the before pictures, document the process where the "marine biologists" scrub them off with dish detergent, fluff 'em up, and send 'em all happy, nice and shiny back into the wild - like those seal pups that got eaten by the killer whale within 2 minutes of release... The company spent millions of dollars on this ad campaign, and the whole focus of the job was on the pictures - they took some statistics about how many animals they saved (and were actively encouraged by the company to "overlook" the mass kills and triage the unsaveables before starting the cameras) - but her whole bonus structure was based around the photo and video documentary fodder she produced for them. She wasn't too thrilled with the job, but it paid so damn well it was impossible to turn down.

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  • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @07:18PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @07:18PM (#948565)

    what a skank!