The end of shareholder value

"A revolution is brewing that is shaking corporations to their very foundations.". "Kennedy shows how an obscure academic theory was discovered by investment bankers in the late 1970s, who used new analytical techniques to spot undervalued companies, turn them around, and sell them to new investors at a handsome profit. The threat of these corporate raiders inspired thousands of executives and managers to focus on restructuring their enterprises: streamlining operations, cutting costs, outsourcing non-core activities. But something got lost along the way - the means became the end; in the interest of maximizing short-term value to shareholders, companies were mortgaging their futures.". "Kennedy persuasively argues that companies subscribing to the shareholder value ethic are destined to collapse. He defies conventional wisdom by exposing such media darlings as General Electric, Cisco Systems, and the hundreds of Internet startups as over-valued and under-invested in the resources and capabilities that will allow them to prosper in the long term."--BOOK JACKET.