The Corporation in the Twenty-First Century
John Kay
(Author)
Description
"A characteristically acerbic analysis of the archetypal organisational unit of capitalism."--Andrew Hill, Financial Times, "Best Books of 2024: Business"
Shortlisted for the 2024 Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award
In the world of Adam Smith and Karl Marx, capitalists built and controlled mills and factories. That relationship between capital and labor continued in the automobile assembly lines and petrochemical plants of the twentieth century.
But no longer: products and production have dematerialized. The goods and services provided by the leading companies of the twenty-first century appear on your screen, fit in your pocket, or occupy your head. Ownership of the means of production is a redundant concept. Workers are the means of production; increasingly, they take the plant home. Capital is a service bought from a specialist supplier with little influence over customer businesses. The professional managers who run modern corporations do not exert authority because they are wealthy; they are wealthy because they exert authority.
John Kay's incisive overhaul of our ideas about business redefines our understanding of successful commercial activity and the corporation--and describes how we have come to "love the product" as we "hate the producer." This is a brilliant and original work from one of the greatest economists.
Product Details
| Publisher | Yale University Press |
| Publish Date | January 07, 2025 |
| Pages | 448 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780300280197 |
| Dimensions | 9.4 X 6.4 X 1.4 inches | 1.8 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
"The book offers a lively discussion of what companies are, and what they are for. Texts about purpose in business are all too often waffly and worthy; Mr. Kay's is admirably clear."--The Economist
"A characteristically acerbic analysis of the archetypal organisational unit of capitalism."--Andrew Hill, Financial Times, "Best Books of 2024: Business"
Listed by The Economist among "40 Best Books Published So Far This Year" (2025)
"Probing. . . . Kay's astute overview of the corporation's recent history enlightens."--Publishers Weekly
Shortlisted for the 2024 Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award
2025 Axiom Award Silver Medal winner, General Business category
"A very entertaining read for specialists and nonspecialists alike, it's a book that manages to be incredibly expansive, and yet also with a depth of argument you won't often find in a business text. Few writers come close to matching Kay's analysis of what makes good businesses succeed and bad businesses fail."--Evan Davis, author of Post-Truth
"A brilliant analysis of how business really works and why we should stop thinking about 'capitalism' and talk instead about a pluralistic economy. Informative, funny, and full of deep insights. Truly a magnum opus."--Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England
"This thoughtful critique of the modern corporation weaves history, psychology, economics, and good humor into a persuasive argument that business is fundamentally social and human."--Frank Partnoy, author of The Match King: Ivar Kreuger, The Financial Genius Behind a Century of Wall Street Scandals
Earn by promoting books
