Business School and the Noble Purpose of the Market: Correcting the Systemic Failures of Shareholder Capitalism

The intellectual foundation for the next generation of business leaders

Today’s business schools were designed for a world that no longer exists. Capitalism raised the standard of living for billions of people over the past 150 years, but is now causing systemic challenges it is unable to address, including climate change and inequality. And yet, business schools continue to teach ideas that are making things worse: elevating the primacy of shareholder profits above the interests of employees, the environment, and society; viewing government as an intrusion on the free market rather than an arbiter of its proper functioning; and promoting unlimited economic growth despite the devastating environmental and social consequences. Business schools cannot simply drop an elective into their curriculum to address these challenges. We must rethink the faulty foundations.

Business School and the Noble Purpose of the Market explains the intellectual foundation MBA students, faculty, and administrators need to reform capitalism and restore its noble purpose for the 21st century. Many business students are in fact seeking this kind of education and frustrated that they are not getting it from their professors. This book will fill in gaps in their education, equipping them with the models and mindset to rethink shareholder capitalism and serve society’s needs. Business faculty and administrators will find a practical program for amending curriculum and pedagogy, changing student and faculty rewards, and bringing a new spirit and sensibility to the business school.

Andrew J. Hoffman is the Holcim (US) Professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He has published 18 books and over 100 articles /book chapters. His work has been covered in the New York Times, Scientific American, Time, Wall Street Journal, Atlantic, and National Public Radio.