Berle and Means’ The Modern Corporation and Private Property: The Military Roots of a Stakeholder Model of Corporate Governance

TY - JOUR

T1 - Berle and Means’ The Modern Corporation and Private Property

T2 - The Military Roots of a Stakeholder Model of Corporate Governance

AU - Smith, Andrew

AU - Tennent, Kevin Daniel

AU - Russell, Jason

N1 - This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded with permission of the publisher/copyright holder. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details

PY - 2018/8/31

Y1 - 2018/8/31

N2 - The Modern Corporation and Private Property by Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means (1932) remains one of the most cited works in management studies. Our paper shows that Berle and Means espoused a stakeholder theory of corporate governance that challenged the then-hegemonic idea that the sole purpose of a corporation is to create value for the shareholders. We argue that Berle and Means’ support for stakeholder theory can be associated with their earlier service in the U.S. military, an organization which then inculcated an ethos of public service in its members. Our paper, which is based on archival research in the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, seeks to relate changes in how U.S. military organizations have structured themselves with contemporaneous changes in the organization of private-sector firms.

AB - The Modern Corporation and Private Property by Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means (1932) remains one of the most cited works in management studies. Our paper shows that Berle and Means espoused a stakeholder theory of corporate governance that challenged the then-hegemonic idea that the sole purpose of a corporation is to create value for the shareholders. We argue that Berle and Means’ support for stakeholder theory can be associated with their earlier service in the U.S. military, an organization which then inculcated an ethos of public service in its members. Our paper, which is based on archival research in the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, seeks to relate changes in how U.S. military organizations have structured themselves with contemporaneous changes in the organization of private-sector firms.

KW - corporate governance; management history; militarization; stakeholder orientation

M3 - Article

SN - 1078-1927

VL - 42

JO - Seattle University. Law Review

JF - Seattle University. Law Review

IS - 2

ER -