Stakeholder Capitalism: A Global Economy that Works for Progress, People and Planet, reviewed

In this review we look at Klaus Schwab & Peter Vanham’s call to arms for a potential way to help address the challenges we face to ensure that business does not come at the expense of our planet. See more about the book here.

Stakeholder Capitalism: A Global Economy that Works for Progress, People and Planet, reviewed

We have an open mind about the strategy advocated by the authors of this book. If it works then great, we can save the planet. However it is also fair to say, that it is this same systemic failure of capitalism that got us into this mess in the first place. When so much money and time has been invested by multinationals in funding climate change denial initiatives, are these really the same people who can help remedy the problems they created.

Schwab and Vanham talk a good talk, and do aim to focus on identifying what the issues are, and, with the emergence of B-corps, what possible solutions may look like. Therefore they do argue well for a possible roadmap out of our current predicament, but at the same time we will need to put clear water between the current activities of the anti-climate change lobbying powers of the Koch industries, and the supporters of the #45potus among others.

This book is definitely a useful part of outlining what the issues are that we face, and where, possible solutions may lie. They also acknowledge the power and impetus of people like Greta Thunberg, who articulate that it is not enough to feel bad about all of this, and that serious actions need to be taken, immediately. The authors do explain and advocate for how stakeholder capitalism helped in the development of the covid-19 vaccine.

Which is true, to some extent, then though, all that good work is slightly undone by the latest gaffe by Boris Johnson where he bangs the drum for why    greed is good, and how it is all a demonstration of the wonders of capitalism as a force for good. Therefore, in relation to this book, the ideas articulate here may be part of the solution, but we also have to be careful that it is not too little too late for humanity.

More about the book ->

Reimagining our global economy so it becomes more sustainable and prosperous for all

Our global economic system is broken. But we can replace the current picture of global upheaval, unsustainability, and uncertainty with one of an economy that works for all people, and the planet. First, we must eliminate rising income inequality within societies where productivity and wage growth has slowed. Second, we must reduce the dampening effect of monopoly market power wielded by large corporations on innovation and productivity gains. And finally, the short-sighted exploitation of natural resources that is corroding the environment and affecting the lives of many for the worse must end.

I’m very happy to see that, just days after being published, “Stakeholder Capitalism” is an @amazon “#1 Best-seller”. We need a debate on how to achieve a global economy that works for all. Our book is part of it. https://t.co/nhUPxW5dNS pic.twitter.com/2nrQifoG1c

— Peter Vanham (@petervanham) January 30, 2021

The debate over the causes of the broken economy—laissez-faire government, poorly managed globalization, the rise of technology in favor of the few, or yet another reason—is wide open. Stakeholder Capitalism: A Global Economy that Works for Progress, People and Planet argues convincingly that if we don’t start with recognizing the true shape of our problems, our current system will continue to fail us.

To help us see our challenges more clearly, Schwab—the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum—looks for the real causes of our system’s shortcomings, and for solutions in best practices from around the world in places as diverse as China, Denmark, Ethiopia, Germany, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Singapore. And in doing so, Schwab finds emerging examples of new ways of doing things that provide grounds for hope, including:

• Individual agency: how countries and policies can make a difference against large external forces
• A clearly defined social contract: agreement on shared values and goals allows government, business, and individuals to produce the most optimal outcomes
• Planning for future generations: short-sighted presentism harms our shared future, and that of those yet to be born
• Better measures of economic success: move beyond a myopic focus on GDP to more complete, human-scaled measures of societal flourishing

By accurately describing our real situation, Stakeholder Capitalism is able to pinpoint achievable ways to deal with our problems. Chapter by chapter, Professor Schwab shows us that there are ways for everyone at all levels of society to reshape the broken pieces of the global economy and—country by country, company by company, and citizen by citizen—glue them back together in a way that benefits us all.

More about the authors

Professor Klaus Schwab is Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation, most known for its Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. He first introduced the stakeholder concept in his 1971 book Modern Enterprise Management in Mechanical Engineering and has been an advocate for stakeholder capitalism ever since.

It was a pleasure to discuss and reflect with @CourtneyFingar on the ways we can achieve a more inclusive and environmental global economy. What encourages me, is that Stakeholder capitalism is not a fiction, it is already practiced by some companies in a real way. https://t.co/LpRp4WbM54

— Klaus Schwab (@ProfKlausSchwab) March 19, 2021

Co-author Peter Vanham is the Head of Chairman’s Communications at the World Economic Forum and author of Before I Was CEO. He writes about the global economy and the people who shape it.

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