
The Corporation in the Twenty-First Century
Why (almost) everything we are told about business is wrong
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.15
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Peter Wicks
-
By:
-
John Kay
About this listen
"Original and thought-provoking... A brilliantly erudite account of the major waves in the theory and practice of management" - The Financial Times
"The doyen of British thinkers on the evolution of business...One of the great attractions of his [work] is that he stands above and apart from conventional political attitudes" - Literary Review
For generations, we have defined a corporation as a business run by a capitalist elite, that uses its accumulated wealth to own the means of production and exercise economic power.
That is no longer the reality. In the twenty-first century, our most desired goods and services aren't stacked in warehouses or on container ships: they appear on your screen, fit in your pocket or occupy your head.
But even as we consume more than ever before, big business faces a crisis of legitimacy. The pharmaceutical industry creates life-saving vaccines but has lost the trust of the public. The widening pay gap between executives and employees is destabilising our societies. Facebook and Google have more customers than any companies in history but are widely reviled.
John Kay, one of the greatest economists of our time, describes how the pursuit of shareholder value has destroyed some of the leading companies of the twentieth century. Incisive and provocative, this book redefines successful commercial activity and leadership, the knowledge economy and what the future of the modern corporation might be.©2024 John Kay (P)2024 Profile Books Ltd
Related to this topic
-
I Will Teach You to Be Rich
- No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works (Second Edition)
- By: Ramit Sethi
- Narrated by: Ramit Sethi
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Buy as many lattes as you want. Spend extravagantly on the things you love. Live your rich life instead of tracking every last expense with Ramit Sethi’s simple, powerful, and effective six-week program for gaining control over your finances. This isn’t typical advice from a money expert. In this completely updated second edition, Ramit teaches you how to choose long-term investments and the right bank accounts. With his characteristic no-BS perspective, he shows how to squeeze every hidden benefit out of your credit cards.
-
-
Repetitive - should be retitled.
- By Truth on 06-20-19
By: Ramit Sethi
-
12 Months to $1 Million
- How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur
- By: Ryan Daniel Moran
- Narrated by: Ryan Daniel Moran
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By cutting out the noise and providing a clear and proven plan, this road map helps even brand-new entrepreneurs make decisions quickly, get their product up for sale, and launch it to a crowd that is ready and waiting to buy. This one-year plan will guide you through the three stages to your first $1 million: the Grind (months 0-4), the Growth (months 5-8), and the Gold (months 9-12). If your goal is to be a full-time entrepreneur, get ready for one chaotic, stressful, and rewarding year. If you have the guts to complete it, you will be the proud owner of a million-dollar business.
-
-
Good, but a Little Misleading
- By Chris Love on 11-28-20
-
The Simple Path to Wealth
- Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life
- By: JL Collins
- Narrated by: JL Collins, Peter Adeney
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book grew out of a series of letters to my daughter concerning various things - mostly about money and investing - she was not yet quite ready to hear. Since money is the single most powerful tool we have for navigating this complex world we've created, understanding it is critical.
-
-
Misleading, heavily biased
- By Cody Peralta on 07-19-19
By: JL Collins
-
The Creature from Jekyll Island
- A Second Look at the Federal Reserve
- By: G. Edward Griffin
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 24 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic expose of the Fed has become one of the best-selling books in its category of all time. Where does money come from? Where does it go? Who makes it? The money magician's secrets are unveiled. Here is a close look at their mirrors and smoke machines, the pulleys, cogs, and wheels that create the grand illusion called money. A boring subject? Just wait. You'll be hooked in five minutes. It reads like a detective story - which it really is, but it's all true.
-
-
Lost confidence in author
- By Amazon Customer on 07-11-20
-
Los secretos de la mente millonaria (Narración en Castellano) [Secrets of the Millionaire Mind]
- Domina el juego de la riqueza [Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth]
- By: T. Harv Eker
- Narrated by: Ivan Villanueva
- Length: 2 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
El autor estaba en bancarrota, en solo dos años y medio se convirtió en millonario y construyó una de las más grandes firmas de consultoría para el éxito. Con sus enseñanzas ha tocado la vida de millones de personas. Este audiolibro te enseña a observar como piensas. Es un reto a tus ideas que te limitan, a los razonamientos que no te apoyan y a tus acciones con respecto al dinero.
-
-
El libro está bien, pero ES VERSION RESUMIDA
- By alexnvlp on 08-24-23
By: T. Harv Eker
-
How to Day Trade for a Living
- A Beginner's Guide to Trading Tools and Tactics, Money Management, Discipline and Trading Psychology
- By: Andrew Aziz
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Very few careers can offer you the freedom, flexibility, and income that day trading does. As a day trader, you can live and work anywhere in the world. You can decide when to work and when not to work. You only answer to yourself. That is the life of the successful day trader. Many people aspire to it, but very few succeed. In the audiobook, I describe the fundamentals of day trading, explain how day trading is different from other styles of trading and investment, and elaborate on important trading strategies that many traders use every day.
-
-
Its a sales pitch
- By Xavier Foley on 02-08-18
By: Andrew Aziz
-
I Will Teach You to Be Rich
- No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works (Second Edition)
- By: Ramit Sethi
- Narrated by: Ramit Sethi
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Buy as many lattes as you want. Spend extravagantly on the things you love. Live your rich life instead of tracking every last expense with Ramit Sethi’s simple, powerful, and effective six-week program for gaining control over your finances. This isn’t typical advice from a money expert. In this completely updated second edition, Ramit teaches you how to choose long-term investments and the right bank accounts. With his characteristic no-BS perspective, he shows how to squeeze every hidden benefit out of your credit cards.
-
-
Repetitive - should be retitled.
- By Truth on 06-20-19
By: Ramit Sethi
-
12 Months to $1 Million
- How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur
- By: Ryan Daniel Moran
- Narrated by: Ryan Daniel Moran
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By cutting out the noise and providing a clear and proven plan, this road map helps even brand-new entrepreneurs make decisions quickly, get their product up for sale, and launch it to a crowd that is ready and waiting to buy. This one-year plan will guide you through the three stages to your first $1 million: the Grind (months 0-4), the Growth (months 5-8), and the Gold (months 9-12). If your goal is to be a full-time entrepreneur, get ready for one chaotic, stressful, and rewarding year. If you have the guts to complete it, you will be the proud owner of a million-dollar business.
-
-
Good, but a Little Misleading
- By Chris Love on 11-28-20
-
The Simple Path to Wealth
- Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life
- By: JL Collins
- Narrated by: JL Collins, Peter Adeney
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book grew out of a series of letters to my daughter concerning various things - mostly about money and investing - she was not yet quite ready to hear. Since money is the single most powerful tool we have for navigating this complex world we've created, understanding it is critical.
-
-
Misleading, heavily biased
- By Cody Peralta on 07-19-19
By: JL Collins
-
The Creature from Jekyll Island
- A Second Look at the Federal Reserve
- By: G. Edward Griffin
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 24 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic expose of the Fed has become one of the best-selling books in its category of all time. Where does money come from? Where does it go? Who makes it? The money magician's secrets are unveiled. Here is a close look at their mirrors and smoke machines, the pulleys, cogs, and wheels that create the grand illusion called money. A boring subject? Just wait. You'll be hooked in five minutes. It reads like a detective story - which it really is, but it's all true.
-
-
Lost confidence in author
- By Amazon Customer on 07-11-20
-
Los secretos de la mente millonaria (Narración en Castellano) [Secrets of the Millionaire Mind]
- Domina el juego de la riqueza [Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth]
- By: T. Harv Eker
- Narrated by: Ivan Villanueva
- Length: 2 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
El autor estaba en bancarrota, en solo dos años y medio se convirtió en millonario y construyó una de las más grandes firmas de consultoría para el éxito. Con sus enseñanzas ha tocado la vida de millones de personas. Este audiolibro te enseña a observar como piensas. Es un reto a tus ideas que te limitan, a los razonamientos que no te apoyan y a tus acciones con respecto al dinero.
-
-
El libro está bien, pero ES VERSION RESUMIDA
- By alexnvlp on 08-24-23
By: T. Harv Eker
-
How to Day Trade for a Living
- A Beginner's Guide to Trading Tools and Tactics, Money Management, Discipline and Trading Psychology
- By: Andrew Aziz
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Very few careers can offer you the freedom, flexibility, and income that day trading does. As a day trader, you can live and work anywhere in the world. You can decide when to work and when not to work. You only answer to yourself. That is the life of the successful day trader. Many people aspire to it, but very few succeed. In the audiobook, I describe the fundamentals of day trading, explain how day trading is different from other styles of trading and investment, and elaborate on important trading strategies that many traders use every day.
-
-
Its a sales pitch
- By Xavier Foley on 02-08-18
By: Andrew Aziz
-
The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime
- By: MJ DeMarco
- Narrated by: MJ DeMarco
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since you were old enough to hold a job, you've been hoodwinked to believe that wealth can be created by blindly trusting in the uncontrollable and unpredictable markets: the housing market, the stock market, and the job market. I call this soul-sucking, dream-stealing dogma "The Slowlane" - an impotent financial gamble that dubiously promises wealth in a wheelchair. For those who don't want a lifetime subscription to "settle-for-less", there is an alternative.
-
-
Excellent!
- By Iray007 on 09-22-15
By: MJ DeMarco
-
Plan Your Year Like a Millionaire
- By: Rachel Rodgers
- Narrated by: Rachel Rodgers
- Length: 2 hrs
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Plan Like a Millionaire is part of a riveting three-part series, and it's all about elevating your game and setting goals like a seven-figure earner. In this wealth-inspiring listening journey, Rachel reveals the secrets of how to set goals, manage time wisely, build essential support systems, break free from financial constraints, and make savvy money decisions.
-
-
Feel Good Book, only
- By Maggie on 01-06-24
By: Rachel Rodgers
-
The 1-Page Marketing Plan
- Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From The Crowd
- By: Allan Dib
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To build a successful business, you need to stop doing random acts of marketing and start following a reliable plan for rapid business growth. Traditionally, creating a marketing plan has been a difficult and time-consuming process, which is why it often doesn’t get done.
-
-
You Need to buy Book to get key info
- By Rosie's mom on 10-23-18
By: Allan Dib
-
The Most Important Thing
- Uncommon Sense for The Thoughtful Investor
- By: Howard Marks
- Narrated by: John FitzGibbon
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Howard Marks, the chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, is renowned for his insightful assessments of market opportunity and risk. After four decades spent ascending to the top of the investment management profession, he is today sought out by the world's leading value investors, and his client memos brim with insightful commentary and a time-tested, fundamental philosophy. The Most Important Thing explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career.
-
-
Five Star Book, two Star Audiobook
- By Johnny on 06-08-15
By: Howard Marks
-
Do Epic Shit
- By: Ankur Warikoo
- Narrated by: Ankur Warikoo
- Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ankur Warikoo is an entrepreneur and content creator whose deep, witty, and brutally honest thoughts on success and failure, money and investing, self-awareness and personal relationships have made him one of India’s top personal brands. In his first book, Ankur puts together the key ideas that have fuelled his journey—one that began with him wanting to be a space engineer and ended with him creating content that has been seen and read and heard by millions. His thoughts range from the importance of creating habits for long-term success to the foundations of money management.
-
-
Epicly Sh*t
- By Anonymous User on 09-30-22
By: Ankur Warikoo
-
Money. Wealth. Life Insurance.
- How the Wealthy Use Life Insurance as a Tax-Free Personal Bank to Supercharge Their Savings
- By: Jake Thompson
- Narrated by: Alan Caudle
- Length: 1 hr and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America's elite have been using cash value life insurance to stockpile wealth for centuries. Used correctly, it is better described as a personal bank on steroids, and a financial bunker for tough times. To be clear, this audiobook is not about the typical garbage peddled by most insurance agents. Rather, an alternative to the risky investment strategies taught by Wall Street. It details a highly efficient form of cash value life insurance designed to supercharge your savings and stockpile wealth.
-
-
what the heck was this?
- By Gladys Torres on 10-20-16
By: Jake Thompson
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Corporation in the 21st Century
- Why (Almost) Everything We Are Told About Business Is Wrong
- By: John Kay
- Narrated by: Peter Wicks
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Kay's incisive overhaul of our ideas about business redefines our understanding of successful commercial activity and the corporation—and describes how we have come to "love the product" as we "hate the producer." This is a brilliant and original work from one of the greatest economists.
By: John Kay
-
The Everything War
- Amazon's Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power
- By: Dana Mattioli
- Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt, Dana Mattioli
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From veteran Amazon reporter for The Wall Street Journal, The Everything War is the first untold, devastating exposé of Amazon's endless strategic greed, from destroying Main Street to remaking corporate power, in pursuit of total domination, by any means necessary.
-
-
Drops knowledge, reads like a thriller
- By Kitty B. on 05-29-24
By: Dana Mattioli
-
Unit X
- How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War
- By: Raj M. Shah, Christopher Kirchhoff
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins, Raj M. Shah, Christopher Kirchhoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A vast and largely unseen transformation of how war is fought as profound as the invention of gunpowder or advent of the nuclear age is occurring. Flying cars that can land like helicopters, artificial intelligence-powered drones that can fly into buildings and map their interiors, microsatellites that can see through clouds and monitor rogue missile sites—all these and more are becoming part of America’s DIU-fast-tracked arsenal. Until recently, the Pentagon was known for its uncomfortable relationship with Silicon Valley and for slow-moving processes that acted as a brake on innovation.
-
-
Boring.
- By Armand Jarri on 01-31-25
By: Raj M. Shah, and others
-
Supremacy
- AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World
- By: Parmy Olson
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In November 2022, a webpage was posted online with a simple text box. It was ChatGPT, and was unlike any app people had used before. It was more human than a customer service agent, more convenient than a Google search. Behind the scenes, battles for control and prestige between the world’s two leading AI firms, OpenAI and DeepMind, who now steers Google's AI efforts, has remained elusive—until now.
-
-
Author doesn’t understand AI
- By David on 09-30-24
By: Parmy Olson
-
Tribal
- How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together
- By: Michael Morris
- Narrated by: Michael Morris
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tribalism is our most misunderstood buzzword. We’ve all heard pundits bemoan its rise, and it’s been blamed for everything from political polarization to workplace discrimination. But as acclaimed cultural psychologist and Columbia professor Michael Morris argues, our tribal instincts are humanity’s secret weapon. Ours is the only species that lives in tribes: groups glued together by their distinctive cultures that can grow to a scale far beyond clans and bands. Morris argues that our psychology is wired by evolution in three distinctive ways.
-
-
Well educated, institutionally, but otherwise naive
- By Zirrus on 12-14-24
By: Michael Morris
-
The Longevity Imperative
- How to Build a Healthier and More Productive Society to Support Our Longer Lives
- By: Andrew J. Scott
- Narrated by: Michael Chance
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thanks to increases in life expectancy, we can now expect to live for a long time. Most of us would welcome an extra day in the week, so why do so many of us view the prospect of additional years with fear and skepticism? The reason is simple: society is not currently structured to support long lives. Rather than thinking in terms of the needs of a rising number of older people, we must instead support the young and middle-aged to prepare differently for the longer futures they can expect.
By: Andrew J. Scott
-
The Corporation in the 21st Century
- Why (Almost) Everything We Are Told About Business Is Wrong
- By: John Kay
- Narrated by: Peter Wicks
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Kay's incisive overhaul of our ideas about business redefines our understanding of successful commercial activity and the corporation—and describes how we have come to "love the product" as we "hate the producer." This is a brilliant and original work from one of the greatest economists.
By: John Kay
-
The Everything War
- Amazon's Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power
- By: Dana Mattioli
- Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt, Dana Mattioli
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From veteran Amazon reporter for The Wall Street Journal, The Everything War is the first untold, devastating exposé of Amazon's endless strategic greed, from destroying Main Street to remaking corporate power, in pursuit of total domination, by any means necessary.
-
-
Drops knowledge, reads like a thriller
- By Kitty B. on 05-29-24
By: Dana Mattioli
-
Unit X
- How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War
- By: Raj M. Shah, Christopher Kirchhoff
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins, Raj M. Shah, Christopher Kirchhoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A vast and largely unseen transformation of how war is fought as profound as the invention of gunpowder or advent of the nuclear age is occurring. Flying cars that can land like helicopters, artificial intelligence-powered drones that can fly into buildings and map their interiors, microsatellites that can see through clouds and monitor rogue missile sites—all these and more are becoming part of America’s DIU-fast-tracked arsenal. Until recently, the Pentagon was known for its uncomfortable relationship with Silicon Valley and for slow-moving processes that acted as a brake on innovation.
-
-
Boring.
- By Armand Jarri on 01-31-25
By: Raj M. Shah, and others
-
Supremacy
- AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World
- By: Parmy Olson
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In November 2022, a webpage was posted online with a simple text box. It was ChatGPT, and was unlike any app people had used before. It was more human than a customer service agent, more convenient than a Google search. Behind the scenes, battles for control and prestige between the world’s two leading AI firms, OpenAI and DeepMind, who now steers Google's AI efforts, has remained elusive—until now.
-
-
Author doesn’t understand AI
- By David on 09-30-24
By: Parmy Olson
-
Tribal
- How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together
- By: Michael Morris
- Narrated by: Michael Morris
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tribalism is our most misunderstood buzzword. We’ve all heard pundits bemoan its rise, and it’s been blamed for everything from political polarization to workplace discrimination. But as acclaimed cultural psychologist and Columbia professor Michael Morris argues, our tribal instincts are humanity’s secret weapon. Ours is the only species that lives in tribes: groups glued together by their distinctive cultures that can grow to a scale far beyond clans and bands. Morris argues that our psychology is wired by evolution in three distinctive ways.
-
-
Well educated, institutionally, but otherwise naive
- By Zirrus on 12-14-24
By: Michael Morris
-
The Longevity Imperative
- How to Build a Healthier and More Productive Society to Support Our Longer Lives
- By: Andrew J. Scott
- Narrated by: Michael Chance
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thanks to increases in life expectancy, we can now expect to live for a long time. Most of us would welcome an extra day in the week, so why do so many of us view the prospect of additional years with fear and skepticism? The reason is simple: society is not currently structured to support long lives. Rather than thinking in terms of the needs of a rising number of older people, we must instead support the young and middle-aged to prepare differently for the longer futures they can expect.
By: Andrew J. Scott