The shareholder is king, says Anglo-American management dogma, so run your company for his benefit. I’ve often struggled with that one. Kings? Those people scrambling for the egg sandwiches at the end of the annual meeting? That automaton running the index-tracker fund?

Freek Vermeulen of London Business School also has trouble with this truism. The Dutchman argues persuasively on his blog that employees should perhaps be a greater priority than investors - and throws in a boozy anecdote about the late Sumantra Ghoshal to boot.

John Thornhill sagely extends a similar line of thinking in a column about the people-centred - as opposed to profit-centred - model of capitalism often found in continental Europe.  

Elsewhere:

• The Chippendales brand gets a fresh coating of oil rubbed into its pecs;
• Why cash-hoarding European family companies suddenly don’t look so stupid;
• Which country’s bosses get as many as 18 weeks of annual holiday? (Clue: not France.)
• How to start a mentoring program;
• What publicly-traded companies are up against when trying to retain executives tempted by private equity.

July 25, 2008 2:55pm in B-schools, Corporate culture, Governance/CSR, Managing others, Marketing/sales | Comment