Corporate Leadership for an Uncertain and Cynical Age.

Presentations and discussion at the 16^th Global Convention on Governance and Sustainability suggest a desire of the corporate leaders present to put a higher priority upon better addressing the requirements of stakeholders other than shareholders. Achieving this might require changes of corporate purpose, governance arrangements and leadership criteria. Recent investigations of adoptions of performance support suggest that it is possible to simultaneously deliver multiple objectives and deliver benefits to a wider range of stakeholders as well as furthering the interests of shareholders. Revised corporate ends could be matched by developments in the means to achieve them. This raises the possibility of businesses, regulators, governments and public bodies working more closely together to pursue shared aims and create economies and build companies that increasingly work for all rather than just the few. Such a shift of emphasis could help to dispel cynicism and reduce mistrust of business leaders and usher in a new era of collaborative capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]