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0:00
Hello and welcome
to this series of
introductory talks on
business strategy.
My name is Robert Grant,
I'm a professor of
strategic management at
Bocconi University
in Milan, Italy.
I'm also the author of
Contemporary Strategy Analysis,
a leading strategic management
textbook used in business
programs throughout the world.
0:23
Let us begin by returning to
the basic strategy framework
that I introduced
at the first talk.
Here, we viewed strategy as
the interface between the firm
and its industry environment.
Focusing on the left
hand rectangle,
the firm at the foundation
of strategy are the
goals of the firm.
In this talk, we consider
these goals the
appropriate goals
for a business enterprise,
a topic that has stimulated
a great deal of debate
in recent years.
My own goal for this talk
is for you to appreciate
the main issues in the
debate over firms' goals.
0:59
What is business for?
It would appear that every firm
has a distinctive purpose,
these purposes tend to reflect
the personal ambitions of
the people who
founded the business.
Henry Ford was explicit
in what he wanted
for his company,
"I will build a motor car
for the great multitude,
it will be so low in
price that no man
making good wages will
be unable to own one".
Similarly, with Steve
Jobs in founding Apple,
he declared that Apple's
purpose was to make
tools for the mind that
advance humankind.
Today, the purposes
that the firm chooses
often express its mission
statement. For Twitter,
this is to give everyone the
power to create and share
ideas and information
instantly, without barriers.
For Nike, it is to
bring inspiration
and innovation to every
athlete in the world,
but it adds that if
you have a body,
you are an athlete.
For Lego Group,
it's to inspire and
develop the builders
of tomorrow.
So, these are
distinctive purposes,
but are their goals that
are common to all firms?
