FCD Module B: Stakeholder Primacy in a Post-COVID Era

In thinking about the future of the firm — post-pandemic, post-digital revolution — we need to look beyond shareholder value and embrace other values and metrics for evaluating a firm's performance. The CEO of today must send emails, write blogs, and post videos. They must explain to everyone why environmental and social issues should be given greater attention. The corporation's purpose is the pursuit and maintenance of relevancy to all the various stakeholders. To do this, a different style of communication and organisation is required. The closed, hierarchal corporations of an earlier industrial phase of capitalism are fading into history. While we are not trying to emphasise that corporations are disappearing, the pandemic has tipped the balance from a corporate world to an un-corporate, flatter and more empathic one. Before the crisis, corporate values and business principles dominated our lives. Corporate careers. Corporate deadlines. Cost reductions. Financial metrics. But that world has gone. An anti-corporate mood is everywhere, and it cannot be ignored. In a new world of social distancing and working from home, other metrics have become more critical. Enjoyment. Freedom. Quality of life. Change is accelerating. In this one-day online programme, we explore what the future look like -- what is the role of the board of directors in designing the business of the future? What is the best board model for your business?