Overview
Companies that do not contribute to a better world do not have the right to exist. They need to focus on doing the right thing, making the world a better place and then the money will follow. In February 2017, Kraft Heinz's attempt to buy Unilever for 135 billion euros ends in failure. According to Paul Polman, a company whose stated purpose is purely to make money has no reason to exist. The Unilever CEO refuses to work for the benefit of a few billionaires. Companies must be a force for good and work for the billions of people who have nothing. Polman is popular with governments and charitable organisations, but confidence among analysts and investors is thin. They are more interested in sales projections; there is no place in their calculations for good deeds. But how sustainable is that? His attempt to steer Unilever into a safe Dutch haven in order to escape Brexit and seek refuge from shareholders focused on short-term profits ultimately hits the rocks. Walking the line between making money and doing the right thing, Polman, more 'priest' than CEO, is too far ahead of his time. The world is crying out for big business to address the major issues of our time, such as climate change. The Great Battle is a compelling call to action for us all to rethink our behaviour. This is the only way to save capitalism's soul.
Full Product Details
Author: Jeroen Smit ,
Jenny Watson
Publisher: Anthem Press
Imprint: First Hill Books
Dimensions:
Width: 14.00cm
, Height: 2.60cm
, Length: 21.60cm
Weight: 0.454kg
ISBN: 9781839988929
ISBN 10: 1839988924
Pages: 452
Publication Date: 25 July 2023
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Not yet available, will be POD
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon it's release. This is a print on demand item which is still yet to be released.
Reviews
“This book is a great read about leadership as well as opportunities and new challenges to future-proof an organisation.” — Jan Zijderveld, Former Unilever President Europa / CEO of Avon, Supervisory Board-Member of (a.o) Ahold Delhaize “The Lonely Quest of Unilever’s CEO Paul Polman portrays the struggle of CEO Paul Polman to turn Unilever into a more sustainable company. He was ahead of his time, able to withstand headwinds of shareholders and yet not succeeding at the end. The book is a page-turner, written with swung, depicting what responsible leadership is all about.” — Professor Dr. (Emeritus) Leen Paape, Corporate Governance, Nyenrode Business University “In a thriller-like style, investigative journalist Jeroen Smit describes how Unilever boss Paul Polman gets stuck.” – NRC Handelsblad (the Dutch quality-newspaper) “Every sentence is spot-on. Jeroen Smit is perhaps the best economic journalist in the Netherlands.” – Shortlisted in ‘best journalism book / MJ Brusse prijs 2020’
Author Information
After finishing his MBA Jeroen Smit (1963) worked as a strategy consultant before starting a 30-year- career in business journalism. He wrote books about the rise and fall of the CEOS' of Ahold, ABN Amro, and most recently Unilever. What makes leaders come to believe in their own truth? Turning their companies into victims of groupthink and tunnel vision! With his investigative approach, Smit shows the inner workings of these companies to the general public.
