Business is wrong
A thrilling big bang to start CISI’s autumn London season at CISI with Sir John Kay, FCSI(Hon) speaking on “The corporation in the 21st century” at lunchtime on Thursday 19 September 2024 in the historic splendour of Merchant Taylor’s Hall in Threadneedle Street.
You can book your place at this event here
Sir John will be introduced by Michael Cole-Fontayn, CISI Chair and until recently Master Merchant Taylor. One of the twelve great livery companies of the City of London, Merchant Taylor’s was once the regulator and trade body of tailoring and its related industries within medieval London. As the world changed, so did Merchant Taylors’; over time it became a grant-making organisation whose members are driven to channel their collective good into volunteering, raising funds, or offering their time to support causes that can create transformative good to many lives.
With such a long history – which spans fires, wars, political upheavals and plagues – Merchant Taylors’ is a vibrant community, with members keen to play their part in all aspects of the Company’s activities. Through their shared history, Merchant Taylors gain a fascinating insight into London’s past and enjoy a unique connection to the City of London and the wider world. So we are delighted to be holding this important event in their wonderful Hall.
For generations, we have defined a corporation as a business run by a capitalist elite, that uses its accumulated wealth to own the means of production and exercise economic power.
That is no longer the reality. In the twenty-first century, our most desired goods and services aren’t stacked in warehouses or on container ships: they appear on your screen, fit in your pocket or occupy your head.
But even as we consume more than ever before, big business faces a crisis of legitimacy. The pharmaceutical industry creates life-saving vaccines but has lost the trust of the public. The widening pay gap between executives and employees is destabilising our societies. Facebook and Google have more customers than any companies in history but are widely reviled.
John Kay, one of the greatest economists of our time, describes how the pursuit of shareholder value has destroyed some of the leading companies of the twentieth century. Incisive and provocative, this book redefines successful commercial activity and leadership, the knowledge economy and what the future of the modern corporation might be.
Sir John Kay is one of Britain’s leading economists. A Fellow of the British Academy and Royal Society of Edinburgh, he was the founding dean of Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and held a chair at London Business School. He is a winner of the Senior Wincott Award for Financial Journalism for his Financial Times columns. Other People’s Money won the Saltire Prize for non-fiction and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing. His other books include Obliquity, The Long and Short of It, Greed is Dead (written with Paul Collier) and Radical Uncertainty (with Mervyn King).
‘A brilliant analysis of how business really works. Informative, funny and full of deep insights. It truly is a magnum opus’ Mervyn King
‘Few writers come close to matching Kay’s analysis of what makes good businesses succeed and bad businesses fail incredibly expansive, and yet also with a depth of argument you won’t often find in a business text. A very entertaining read’ Evan Davis