The Timid Corporation: Why Business is Terrified of Taking Risk

The Timid Corporation......Page 4
Contents......Page 10
Acknowledgements......Page 14
Introduction: The Rise of the Cautious Manager......Page 16
The timid corporation......Page 17
Part One: The Re-Regulation of the Corporation......Page 26
A brief history of regulation......Page 28
An era of deregulation?......Page 29
A new dynamic of regulation......Page 34
Privacy: how the dynamic of regulation has become an end in itself......Page 40
A new institutional framework for regulation......Page 44
Feeding vampire-like off regulation: the role of consultants......Page 45
A generalized ‘culture of suspicion’......Page 47
Enronitis: the reaction of an anxious elite......Page 50
Interrogating the response......Page 54
From regulation to self-regulation......Page 56
Notes......Page 57
2: Self-Regulation: Entrenching Caution......Page 60
Self-regulation: a schematic overview......Page 63
The rise of ethics......Page 64
Corporate governance......Page 66
Britain: an example of change......Page 69
Sustainable development: a new vehicle for self-regulation......Page 76
A new agenda of irrational self-regulation and restraint......Page 82
How ‘listening to society’ can be irrational......Page 83
Sustainable development – does it make sense?......Page 87
Sustainability – a distorted worldview......Page 88
A more balanced view of economic growth......Page 90
The issue of global warming......Page 91
Conclusion: the dangers of self-regulation......Page 94
Notes......Page 95
3: The Rise of Risk Management......Page 98
A plethora of new initiatives......Page 102
The issue of reputation risk......Page 105
Risk management in the abstract......Page 106
Corporate risk management – a brief history......Page 108
Change in the 1990s......Page 111
The attempt to insure speculative risk......Page 112
Conclusion......Page 115
Notes......Page 116
4: Managing for Shareholder Value: The New Financial Risk Aversion......Page 118
Perceptions and critics of managing for shareholder value......Page 122
Managing for shareholder value – a new financial self-regulation......Page 123
The influence of financial economics......Page 124
Managing for shareholder frameworks – the example of economic value added......Page 130
The accountability obsession......Page 133
Managing in shareholders’ interests – a weak idea......Page 137
From regulation to a timid approach to markets......Page 140
Notes......Page 141
Part Two: A Timid Approach to Markets......Page 144
5: Industry in Defensive Mode......Page 146
Perceptions of risk......Page 154
The myth of unpredictable markets......Page 155
Notes......Page 159
6: The New Obsession with the Customer......Page 162
A fixation with loyalty......Page 166
The new fixation with brands: the corporate creation of comfort zones......Page 168
What is the real problem with brands?......Page 172
The rise of the brand extension......Page 173
The re-branding fixation......Page 176
The dumbing-down of innovation......Page 177
Notes......Page 178
7: The Dumbing-Down of Innovation......Page 180
The retreat from radical innovation......Page 182
Technology in industry – a brief history......Page 187
Thinking about the Internet: the potential and the barriers......Page 190
On its own, the Internet offers incremental innovation......Page 192
Transforming the physical – a more radical task......Page 194
Using the Internet to avoid risk......Page 195
The relativization of the innovation concept......Page 199
From timid innovation to timid growth......Page 202
Notes......Page 203
8: Fear of Growth......Page 204
The 1990s reconsidered......Page 205
Why the move into services is risk-averse......Page 209
Growth at the macro level......Page 212
The financialization of economies......Page 214
The myth of the entrepreneurial revolution......Page 216
Is this a new era for the entrepreneur?......Page 217
The ‘myopic opportunism’ of small business......Page 220
Conclusion......Page 221
Notes......Page 222
Part Three: Explaining and Challenging Risk Aversion......Page 224
9: A Crisis of Self-Belief......Page 226
A risky future......Page 231
Defensive relations......Page 233
A jittery attitude toward change......Page 235
Today’s perceptions of the corporation feed off a new sense of powerlessness......Page 236
Summarizing The Timid Corporation......Page 240
Notes......Page 242
An exaggerated sense of damage and risk......Page 244
Regulation does not restore trust......Page 246
Self-regulation often proceeds in a euphemistic fashion......Page 247
A more ambitious view of innovation......Page 248
Note......Page 250
Bibliography......Page 252
Index......Page 260