According to Grant F. Reid, CEO and president of Mars, “Performance without purpose is meaningless, and purpose without performance is not possible. It’s the magic combination.” For Mars CFO Claus Aagaard, “Private ownership provides a great platform to live our purpose as we can do the right things and faster without the worry of the […]
What’s the link between purpose and the bottom line?
A clear purpose drives results. These are the words of Claudine Gartenberg, a Wharton School professor and co-author of one of the largest studies ever conducted on corporate purpose. According to Prof. Gartenberg, purpose is “a set of beliefs about the meaning of a company’s work beyond quantitative measures of financial performance.” In a recent […]
A chat with Nobel laureate Amartya Sen
As Secretary of the Jury of the Princess of Asturias Foundation Award, I had the tremendous honor of speaking with economist and philosopher Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize in Economics and 2021 Award Winner of the Princess of Asturias in Social Sciences. Human development and human capabilities are at the heart of his work. In our […]
Financial Times: we’re in the news!
We’re happy to report that our efforts to help family-owned businesses have not gone unnoticed! We hope you enjoy this recent Financial Times article and that you help us spread the word by sharing it friends and colleagues. What can business school teach a family firm?
Session with Nobel Laureate Bengt Holmström
Bengt Holmström is an MIT professor and the recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Economics. In his recent remarks at the 2021 IESE-ECGI Corporate Governance Conference, he warns of a data-driven tsunami that will radically change how businesses operate and structure their corporate governance systems. Don’t miss this thought-provoking session! Video Session with Bengt […]
Nobel laureate Bengt Holmström: “We see signs of a tsunami”
In early October, IESE’s Madrid campus welcomed scholars and guests – both in person and online – to the 2021 IESE-ECGI Corporate Governance Conference, an annual event that gathers some of the foremost experts in management and economics. On the first day of the conference, I had the great honor of moderating a panel session […]
A sense of purpose in family-owned firms
“The importance of serving stakeholders and embracing purpose is becoming increasingly central to the way that companies understand their role in society. A company cannot achieve long-term profits without embracing purpose and considering the needs of a broad range of stakeholders.” – Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock This powerful message, directed at the […]
4 mechanisms to boost stakeholder engagement
There’s no doubt about it: companies that genuinely aspire to leave a positive and long-lasting mark in the world need to engage their stakeholders. But what are the most effective strategies to achieve this aim? To answer this question, I joined forces with Prof. Anabella Dávila from EGADE Business School (TEC de Monterrey) and IESE […]
Digitalize your company by digitalizing your board
How is digitalization impacting our customers’ habits and behaviors? How will they interact with our products and services in 10 years’ time? How “digitally mature” is our sector? How are our competitors applying technology? What percentage of our revenues and margin could we lose over the next five years if we do nothing? What investments […]
New times, same purpose
This is my first-ever blog post and it couldn’t be in a more ideal setting: IESE’s Family-Owned Business Blog, which today enters a new phase as Josep Tàpies advanced last week in his post. From now on, this blog will be a group effort, with contributions from every member of IESE’s Chair of Family-Owned Business’ […]