Play Time: 33 mins
Read Time: 2 Mins
In Part 2 of this two-part conversation with SPJIMR visiting professor Upamanyu Bhattacharya, economist and author John Kay moves from diagnosis to design. If Part 1 unpacked why individualism endures, this episode explores how communitarian capitalism can actually work—in corporations, startups, governments, and tech.
Kay argues that great firms are built by professional managers as trustees who balance the interests of customers, employees, shareholders, and communities—not by the cult of the heroic CEO or blind shareholder primacy. Through vivid case studies (Boeing, ICI, GE/GEC, Apple, Unilever), he shows how purpose-led teams outperform short-term financial engineering. We also discuss family businesses (with an eye on India), startups as natural stakeholder systems, and whether AI will centralize or decentralize power over time.
Key Takeaways
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ICI & GEC: Lessons from British industry. Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) thrived by focusing for decades on science-driven innovation, attracting world-class chemists and managers. Its mission was the “responsible application of chemistry.” However, when ICI shifted its mission to maximizing shareholder value, it lost its way and was acquired within 15 years. General Electric Company (GEC) of Britain followed a similar fate, abandoning engineering and blowing itself up during the dot-com bubble—powerful warnings about neglecting stakeholder purpose.
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Apple: Value from collective ingenuity. Apple’s revolutionary ascent with the iPhone resulted from bringing together diverse capabilities—engineers, designers, global suppliers—not from any individual alone. The company’s near failures, and subsequent success, reinforce that assembling the right capabilities and teams is more important than betting on lone creators.
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Family businesses and continuity. In Europe and India, many enduring family-run firms outlast their Western counterparts by prioritizing continuity and empowering competent management. Their success is tied to communitarian values rather than centralized power in one family member.
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True community transcends organizational charts. Legal structures matter less than culture and mindset; even shareholder-oriented corporations flourish when managers act as trustees for all stakeholders—employees, customers, and communities.
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Startups as natural stakeholder models. Most successful startups initially share ownership, with most early employees becoming co-owners. The challenge is to retain this sense of shared purpose while scaling up and navigating market pressures.
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AI and technology: decentralization awaits. While tech currently concentrates power, the long-term effects—like previous internet waves—are unpredictable and potentially democratizing, provided we wait, adapt, and rethink societal impacts.
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Cultural shift is the strategy. Both education and media need to focus less on top-down leadership myths and more on cultivating teamwork, trust, and institutional belonging to pave the way for a communitarian future.
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Some businesses worked well with the myth of the founder. Iconic companies such as Marks & Spencer, IBM (in its heyday), and Walt Disney succeeded by internalizing a community-driven culture—instilling “what would the founder do” values throughout teams, even as standard shareholder corporations.
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A vision for the future: Community-focused businesses, decentralized political structures, and reinforcement of community institutions are essential for a resilient society. Moving forward means cultivating professional managers dedicated to building great teams with shared purpose and legacy.
