In this episode of Capital for Good, we speak with Judy Samuelson, the founder and executive director of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program and author of the new and important book, The Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World.
Samuelson helps us understand how and why the rules of business are changing — for the better. She explains that while "the corporation is not itself moral or immoral," businesses can be responsible forces for good and "market civitas." Via a number of compelling examples, Samuelson discusses new and different components of risk (intangibles like reputation and trust drive value, not just hard assets), the evolving conceptions of business purpose and shareholder primacy, and the increased role of employee activism and advocacy in shaping corporate behavior. In companies large and small, she describes why "culture," and no longer "capital," is "king."
Mentioned in this episode:
- The Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2021)
About Judy Samuelson:
Judy Samuelson is the founder and executive director of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program and a vice president at the Aspen Institute. Signature programs under her leadership include a ten-year campaign to disrupt Milton Friedman’s narrative about corporate purpose, a multiyear dialogue to produce the Aspen Principles of Long-Term Value Creation, and a partnership with Korn Ferry to rethink executive pay. She previously worked in legislative affairs in California and banking in New York’s garment center and ran the Ford Foundation’s office of program-related investments. Samuelson writes regularly for Quartz at Work, is a Bellagio Fellow and a director of Financial Health Network