Private Business - Public Battleground: The Case for 21st Century Stakeholder Companies - Hardcover

"There is a conflict of interest between the public sector and investors, and we cannot get it right". (Gerald Corbett, Railtrack Chief Executive). Is it inevitable that the demands of their shareholders will always put successful businesses at loggerheads with the public interest? This book brings together two former opponents, from opposite sides of the debate, to discuss the value of a stakeholder approach and how it can help companies operating at the interface between private enterprise and public interest. Des Wilson, founder of Shelter and former Chairman of Friends of The Earth, has a history of radical campaigning and environmentalism. John Egan, the former Chief Executive and "saviour" of Jaguar and now Chairman of the Centre for Tomorrow's Company has a background in tough buccaneering business leadership. Together they review recent cases and controversies and argue that the choice between shareholder value and stakeholder accountability is unnecessary. To illustrate this approach in action they draw on their experience together on the board of the British Airports Authority as it negotiates the terminal 5 enquiry (the biggest enquiry of its kind in the world).

SIR JOHN EGAN is former Chief Executive of Jaguar and BAA, Chairman of Central London Partnership, Chairman of the Egan Committee on the Construction Industry (set up by the Deputy Prime Minister) and Chairman of Tomorrow's Company. - DES WILSON is Director of Corporate and Public Affairs, BAA, former President of the Liberal Party, former Chairman of Friends of the Earth and Clear, founder of Shelter and columnist for The Guardian, The Observer and The New Statesman.