Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit
What is a responsible business? Common wisdom is that it’s one that sacrifices profit for social outcomes. But while it’s crucial for companies to serve society, they also have a duty to generate profit for investors – savers, retirees, and pension funds.
Based on evidence and real-life examples spanning industries and countries, Alex Edmans shows that it’s not an either-or choice – companies can create both profit and social value.
The most successful companies don’t target profit directly, but are driven by purpose – the desire to serve a societal need and contribute to human betterment.
The book explains how to embed purpose into practice so that it’s more than just a mission statement, and discusses the critical role of working collaboratively with a company’s investors, employees, and customers. It also uncovers surprising results on how executive pay, shareholder activism, and share buybacks can be used for the common good.
Reviews
A Financial Times Book of the Year 2020.
“Alex Edmans’ superb book makes the case, compellingly and comprehensively, for a radical rethink of how companies operate and indeed why they exist. It is a tour de force.”
Andy Haldane, Chief Economist, Bank of England
“Alex Edmans provides robust evidence against the claim that businesses must choose between shareholder value and social responsibility. Although there are trade-offs, there is no single trade-off. What is good for shareholders can be good for society: evidence matters.”
Baroness Onora O’Neill, Philosopher
Read London Business Review‘s review of the book.
About Alex Edmans
Alex Edmans is Professor of Finance at London Business School and an authority on reforming business to serve the common good – but using solutions based on rigorous evidence and recognising the importance of both investors and stakeholders.
He has spoken at the World Economic Forum in Davos, testified in the UK Parliament, presented to the World Bank Board of Directors as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series, and given the TED talk ‘What to Trust in a Post-Truth World’ and the TEDx talk ‘The Social Responsibility of Business’.
Find more at GrowThePie.net and AlexEdmans.com.
WATCH: Grow the Pie
