No more business as usual: Professor Colin Mayer, Saïd Business School

The British Academy fellow on how business purpose has moved from the slipstream to the mainstream—and how firms with defined values are best placed to survive the current pandemic.

Covid-19 has presented business with its biggest challenge since the financial crisis of 2008. Perhaps one of the most pressing questions is whether the development of “purposeful” businesses will continue amidst a crisis that presents an existential threat to so many companies.
“Purpose” has become a byword for the future of business among corporate leaders everywhere, as companies and their boards came to terms with the loss of public trust after the financial crisis and started playing their part in defeating global warming.
However, the way some companies have reacted to the Covid-19 pandemic has thrown a spotlight on the ch
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