Valiant Michael Eisner fights the mighty dragons of corporate takeovers, union demands, and executive complacency in this re- creation of the Disney rags-to-riches myth by a free-lance business journalist (Esquire, GQ, etc.)—this version livelier and more thoroughly researched than Ron Grover's The Disney Touch (p. 376). ``I like Michael Eisner,'' Flower admits in his introduction- -and this statement, in the face of Eisner's refusal to be interviewed (a refusal that many of his subordinates at Disney instantly echoed), offers a clue to the contradiction, which Flower finds fascinating, between personal charm and corporate ruthlessness in both the Disney Company and in Eisner himself. How can a business executive be charming, boyish, creative, and aggressive enough to spread the Disney presence around the globe (and up the prices of everything from its theme-park tickets to its stuffed Mickey Mouse dolls), yet manage to maintain Disney as one of the most popular and respected brand names on earth? Along his way of tracing Eisner's career from an assistant at ABC-TV to the rank of CEO at a desperately struggling Disney, Flower analyzes just what it is about the Disney perspective that makes its presence such a treasured part of American culture. He finds that luck has played a role in the nearly perfect match-up between a company identified with childlike optimism and the family-oriented, puppylike, yet ruthlessly ambitious Eisner. But will Disney weather the recession successfully? Certainly, says Flower, at least in the well-trodden areas of theme parks, films, and video—not necessarily, though, in the untried arenas of mainstream book publishing, restaurants, and retail merchandising. Would Disney do as well without Eisner at the helm? A tougher question to answer, Flower finds, given the vital nature of the Disney mythos and its brilliant expression in the person of its cheerful and determined CEO. A captivating tale with intimations—in this rendition—of a happy ending. (Fifteen photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: Nov. 6, 1991
ISBN: 0-471-52465-4
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Wiley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1991
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.
A well-constructed critique of an economic system that, by the author’s account, is a driver of the world’s destruction.
Harvard Business School professor Henderson vigorously questions the bromide that “management’s only duty is to maximize shareholder value,” a notion advanced by Milton Friedman and accepted uncritically in business schools ever since. By that logic, writes the author, there is no reason why corporations should not fish out the oceans, raise drug prices, militate against public education (since it costs tax money), and otherwise behave ruinously and anti-socially. Many do, even though an alternative theory of business organization argues that corporations and society should enjoy a symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit, which includes corporate investment in what economists call public goods. Given that the history of humankind is “the story of our increasing ability to cooperate at larger and larger scales,” one would hope that in the face of environmental degradation and other threats, we might adopt the symbiotic model rather than the winner-take-all one. Problems abound, of course, including that of the “free rider,” the corporation that takes the benefits from collaborative agreements but does none of the work. Henderson examines case studies such as a large food company that emphasized environmentally responsible production and in turn built “purpose-led, sustainable living brands” and otherwise led the way in increasing shareholder value by reducing risk while building demand. The author argues that the “short-termism” that dominates corporate thinking needs to be adjusted to a longer view even though the larger problem might be better characterized as “failure of information.” Henderson closes with a set of prescriptions for bringing a more equitable economics to the personal level, one that, among other things, asks us to step outside routine—eat less meat, drive less—and become active in forcing corporations (and politicians) to be better citizens.
A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.Pub Date: May 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5417-3015-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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