More from these Authors

• Book | 2020

  Capitalism at Risk: How Business Can Lead

  Joseph L. Bower, Dutch Leonard and Lynn S. Paine

  Who should take the lead in fixing market capitalism? Business—not government alone. The spread of capitalism worldwide has made people wealthier than ever before. But capitalism's future is far from assured. Pandemics, income inequality, resource depletion, mass migrations from poor to rich countries, religious fundamentalism, the misuse of social media, and cyberattacks—these are just a few of the threats to continuing prosperity that we see dominating the headlines every day. How can capitalism be sustained? And who should spearhead the effort? Critics turn to government. In their groundbreaking book, Capitalism at Risk, Harvard Business School professors Joseph Bower, Herman Leonard, and Lynn Paine argue that while robust governments must play a role, leadership by business is essential. For enterprising companies—whether large multinationals, established regional players, or small startups—the current threats to market capitalism present important opportunities. In this updated and expanded edition of Capitalism at Risk, Bower, Leonard, and Paine set forth a renewed and more urgent call to action. With three additional chapters and a new preface, the authors explain how the eleven original disruptors of the global market system clash with the digital age, and they provide lessons on how to take action. Presenting examples of companies already making a difference, Bower, Leonard, and Paine show how business must serve both as innovator and activist—developing corporate strategies that effect change at the community, national, and international levels. Filled with rich insights, this new edition of Capitalism at Risk presents a compelling and constructive vision for the future of market capitalism.

  Keywords: Capitalism; business and society; Economic Systems; Economic Growth; Policy; Leading Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Corporate Strategy;

  Citation:

  Bower, Joseph L., Dutch Leonard, and Lynn S. Paine. Capitalism at Risk: How Business Can Lead. Updated and expanded ed. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2020.  View Details

  CiteView DetailsPurchase

  Related

• Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2020

  Poppy (B)

  Thomas R. Eisenmann, Scott Duke Kominers, Jeff Huizinga and Allison Ciechanover

  Avni Patel Thompson, founder and CEO of Poppy, an online marketplace for on-demand childcare, revisits the venture's final months, and discusses the steps she took in the wake of the shutdown. This case explores experiments the company conducted to refine its original business model, as well as how Patel Thompson rekindled her entrepreneurial ambitions. It is part two of an A and B case, the A case being: Poppy: A Modern Village for Childcare Case 818 075, November 2017.

  Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Marketplace Matching; Business Model; Business Exit or Shutdown; Personal Development and Career; United States;

  Citation:

  Eisenmann, Thomas R., Scott Duke Kominers, Jeff Huizinga, and Allison Ciechanover. "Poppy (B)." Harvard Business School Case 820-715, March 2020.  View Details

  CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase

  Related

• Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2020

  Minneapolis Star Tribune

  Joseph L. Bower, Elizabeth Hansen and Michael Norris

  In the summer of 2019, Mike Klingensmith, CEO of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Twin Cities metro region’s largest newspaper, reviewed subscription trends and plans for future experimentation. The newspaper industry across the U.S. had suffered a steep decline for the previous several decades as digital offerings supplanted print subscriptions. Under Klingensmith’s leadership, the Star Tribune had fared better than many papers, emerging from bankruptcy with a robust newsroom and with print profitable and digital growing. But given ongoing shifts in consumer media habits, flat EBITDA was still the best-case scenario that the Tribune could reach for. To meet this goal, Klingensmith and his team had put in place new digital offerings and had developed a number of creative additions to the print paper to offset subscription declines and print ad losses. Klingensmith believed that the plans they had put in place would allow the paper to survive in the new news landscape of the 21st century, but as he prepared to meet with the paper’s owner, a local, family-owned holding company, he wondered how confident he could be in his forecasts.

  Keywords: financial performance; industry evolution; Business Earnings; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Journalism and News Industry; Minnesota;

  Citation:

  Bower, Joseph L., Elizabeth Hansen, and Michael Norris. "Minneapolis Star Tribune." Harvard Business School Case 920-302, March 2020.  View Details

  CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase

  Related