Corporations were conceived and
first chartered to serve the public
good — to exploit hard-to-find
resources and to undertake projects
individual businesspeople couldn't
manage alone. But times have
changed, corporate executives have
taken on regal authority, and the
public good has been dropped from
the equation.
Modern corporations
are free to maximize their wealth
but owe nothing to the individuals
and communities around them. They
balk at government regulation and
lock out shareholders while
executives use inside baseball to
reward themselves with massive pay
packages. Today's CEOs are beholden
to one thing only—profit for
profit's sake—and our communities,
our workforce, and our environment
frequently suffer for it. While
over-regulation of corporations will
destroy the economy, doing nothing
to change corporate behavior might
well destroy everything else.
In Corpocracy, longtime
corporate lawyer, venture
capitalist, and shareholder activist
Robert Monks reveals how
corporations seized control, how
they abuse their power, and what we
can—and must—do to rein them in. In
this clear and careful analysis,
Monks outlines a plan for
reconciling the competing interests
of corporations and society through
thoughtful shareholder activism that
protects the interests of
corporations and everyone else.
Shareholder control over large
corporations is as weak as it has
ever been. Not only are corporations
rarely held to account by government
regulation, they face even less
control by those whose interests
they ostensibly serve. Yet, when
engaged and active, shareholders
still hold the power to influence
corporate behavior and governance in
ways that can benefit everyone.
Corporate capitalism is still the
best chance for mankind to improve
life on earth. But corporations must
be made to operate within the rules
of legitimate authority without
retarding their ability to create
wealth. It's up to us to find a path
that reins in corporations without
stifling their ability to innovate
and profit. Corpocracy is the
map that will guide us to better
corporations and a better world for
us all.
