Beyond profits: A more comprehensive model of leadership

“If you have to choose between two models of the company, one only about profit and the other about profit but also about other stakeholders, which would you choose?” asks Tom Donaldson, a professor of ethics and law at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business who has monitored how executives worldwide answer.  Thirty to 40 percent of those in the U.S. choose profit only.  By contrast, only about 10 percent in Japan do.

Can a leader focus on shareholder value, and still be true to other stakeholders, such as employees and customers?  Does it even matter?

As Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Business School and head of the Institute for Personal Leadership, Hitendra Wadhwa has some interesting thoughts on the matter:  Can One Man Save American Business?