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    What is the real purpose of business?

    Governance Management Performance Research Societal Wellbeing
    Does the question posed in the title of this musing have a straightforward, even profound‚ answer? I would have thought so. In fact, when I am asked this question—as happens on a fairly regular basis—my reply is that the purpose of business is to provide a return to the shareholders, whether by way of a dividend or a capital gain, or both. The shareholders own the asset (the business), so it seems fair that they receive a reward for making the asset available. I've thought this for the long time, on the basis that the shareholders are the ones that put up the money in the first place. Staff, suppliers and others receive payments for services rendered and products supplied at the time they are provided.
    However, if companies become selfish and get too greedy, by trying to maximise profit at the expense of almost anything else, as some do, then cries of protest can be expected from some quarters. Do cry-ers have a point? Maybe, but not if they are promoting some form of social engineering, whereby profits are distributed to others beyond the shareholder base. Businesses exist for the purpose of making money for their shareholders. They are not social clubs for a wide group of so-called stakeholders. Others disagree, I know, but the purpose of a for-profit business is to make a profit! Otherwise, the business would be a not-for-profit agency.
    It would seem to me that, in the context of an open market, those companies that achieve dominant positions are very good at what they do. Yet no business is exempt from the invisible hand. The self-regulating behaviour of the market described by Smith over 200 years ago remains in control. It will have an effect, perhaps sooner rather than later if boards and shareholders get too greedy with profit maximisation.
    So, back to the question. What is the real purpose of any business? To make a profit for its shareholders, and those that do this well, in an ethical manner, can and should expect to operate successfully for many years.
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    European Conference on Management Leadership and Governance: Just around the corner

    Conferences Governance Phd Research
    The 10th European Conference on Management Leadership and Governance (hashtag #ECMLG2014) is almost upon us. This year, the conference is being held in Zagreb, Croatia on 13–14 November. I have a session to chair and a paper to deliver. Also, I hope to renew some acquaintances and get some feedback on my latest research while there.
    A copy of the full conference programme is available here. As with other conferences I have attended, I will post updates and reflections throughout the conference, right here on this blog. Please contact me if there is a paper that you are particularly interested in, so that I can attend and provide a report.
    My journey from New Zealand to Croatia is via London, to attend some meetings (although I still have a few gaps, so please contact me if you wish to meet) and, hopefully, sneak another peak at the poppies at the Tower of London.
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    Research update: labouring away

    Governance Phd Research Research Update
    It's Labour Day in New Zealand: notionally a statutory holiday to recognise and remember the struggle (fight?) for the eight-hour work day. While it's a worthy marker peg in our nation's history, I've never really subscribed to the notion of an eight-hour work-day nor a 40-hour work-week. Blame it my farming heritage or madness if you wish, but I think in terms of working until the work is done. Today is no exception. The thesis writeup is very much to the fore of my mind every day of the week just now.
    In the last seven days, I have been working on the Discussion and Theory Development chapter, hoping to assemble a cacophony of ideas into the first complete draft. A couple of days were really slow going, but the great news is that the first draft is complete (save a series of diagrams)! Having laboured away on this chapter for a couple of weeks, I can now look back and see that, while the distance has not been great, some of the insights that have emerged could be quite significant in the overall scheme of things.
    I also received three pages of notes, suggestions and comments from my second supervisor during the week: her review of two chapters that I'd asked for feedback on back in August. While the slow turnaround has been frustrating, and some of the comments quite 'left-field', the overall tenor of the commentary has been helpful. Thanks Kate.
    Where to from here? The DTD chapter needs more work (this week's job), as does the Conclusions chapter (next week). Once these two pieces are done, the focus will move from creating content to refining that which has already been written—a significant milestone, in my mind anyway! 
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    Research update: paper everywhere

    Phd Research Research Update
    This is the second of my soon-to-become regular updates written for folk who have asked to be kept up to date with my PhD write-up. I have provided updates irregularly in the past. However, I recently made a commitment to provide an update every week, in response to several requests to do so.

    The week gone has been characterised by paper: lots of it, everywhere. As mentioned last week, my focus has been on the discussion and theory development (DTD) chapter. This is the piece of the thesis whereby the various threads and ideas that have been mentioned elsewhere are brought together—hopefully in a cohesive and coherent manner. As a digital immigrant, this process involves a pen and a keyboard: yes, I rely on pen-and-paper to augment what I do with computers. While the word processor is my go-to tool when writing new material, my default approach to reviewing and editing material is to print copies and mark them up with my trusty Waterman Expert rollerball. Thus the paper. I also have three piles of dog-eared research articles—each about six inches high—that receive periodic attention as I build arguments and refer to prior research work.

    The biggest challenge this week has been to assemble my thoughts and ideas into a logical structure and sequence, and then to write material into each section. The process is quite easy to describe. However, it is somewhat harder to implement. Ideas can flow at any time of the day or night, so I have taken to writing when the ideas flow rather than when my schedule says I should write. It will be interesting to see what effect the change has on my productivity. I'll let you know.

    My hope had been to complete the DTD chapter—to a first draft form anyway—by the end of this weekend. However, I have adjusted the structure of the chapter three times in recent days, and have opened up the conclusions chapter as well: the result of which has meant quite some re-work. I'm hoping to break the back of this work and re-work cycle in the next few days because, when I do I can start on the assembly and integration process, of pulling all of the chapters together. While there is some short-term frustration that things are taking a little longer than expected, I'm convinced that the extra effort being put in now will make the thesis easier to read later. Fingers crossed.
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    Research update: closing in on the prize

    Phd Research Research Update Time Management
    "So, how's the research going?"
    "Pretty well, thank you for asking."

    I've been party to this brief exchange, or a close variant of it, most weeks this year. It's usually originated by someone who knows me; or someone who has an interest in what I'm doing; or, someone who finds it odd that I stopped working a couple of years ago to investigate how boards influence performance. My response has typically been quite private—as above—without wanting to appear to be rude. That someone might actually be interested enough to listen to me wax on for a few minutes is an assumption I have wished to avoid, However, with the project now in its final couple of months and the write-up well underway, and seemingly increasing levels of interest in the findings starting to come from business people and academics, I've decided to write a weekly update from here on in. Please let me know if they are helpful or not. If you have a specific question, please post a comment below or send a note, and I will do my best to provide an answer. My goal, of submitting the completed thesis by Christmas Day, remains intact. It'll be tight—because work has an innate capacity to expand to fill the time available—but doable. 

    The thesis will be six chapters long. Two of the three longest chapters (Literature Review and Research Methodology) have been out for review for a couple of weeks now. Last night, I finished the third of the 'big three' chapters (Data and Initial Analysis, the chapter that contains a summary of all of the data that has been collected and starts to makes sense of it). The first drafts of the Introduction and Conclusion chapters are completed as well. The satisfaction of having broken the back of the thesis writeup was palpable. The remaining chapter is entitled Discussion and Theory Development. It will be somewhat shorter than the big three and, as the title implies, it will hopefully answer the question that I set out to address. So, it needs careful thought. Thankfully, I have a fairly good sense of what needs to be written, although the proof of whether I'm on track will come as the week progresses and the mixed bag of notes and sentence fragments congeal (or not!).

    However, there is hardly a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind in the air this morning. The sun is streaming in the window and a tui is happily calling from a nearby tree. So, I have decided to take the day off. My wife and I are going to visit a famous rhododendron and azalea garden, in our old car, with a picnic. The joys of Spring! No doubt we will chat about the real sense I have, of now closing in on the prize and of handing over the final draft so it can be examined. But one must not get ahead of themselves, for there is much to be written yet. 

    I'll keep you informed.
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    In London: available to speak, or for meetings, workshops et al

    Conferences Governance Performance Research
    My next trip to the London and Europe is just over five weeks away (10 Nov to 19 Nov), to speak at a conference and to attend meetings. I have some space in my diary, so if you think you might need some assistance with corporate governance or strategy and want to take advantage of me being in your area, please contact me to discuss your requirements. I am available to speak; run a workshop; discuss insights from my latest research; or address other corporate governance, strategy and business performance matters of interest to you.

    Available dates:
    • Mon 10 Nov: available afternoon and evening, in London
    • Wed 12 Nov: available morning, in Zagreb Croatia
    • 13–14 Nov: attending European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance (Zagreb)
    • 16–19 Nov: available, in London, or surrounding cities and towns

    I look forward to hearing from you soon.