The Corporation
150 years ago
the business corporation
was a relatively
insignificant institution.
Today it is all pervasive.
Like the church
the monarchy
and the communist party
the corporation is today's
dominant institution.
This documentary
examines the nature
evolution impacts and
possible futures
of the modern
business corporation.
Initially given a narrow
legal mandate
what has allowed today's
corporation to achieve
such extraordinary power
and influence over our lives?
scandals threaten to trigger
of public control
over big corporations.
I think there is an overhang
over the market of distrust.
Listen 95 percent
or some percent
huge percentage
of the business
community are honest
and unreveal
all their assets
got compensation
programs that are balanced.
But there are
some bad apples...
the basic operating principles
of the corporate world
was quickly reduced
to a game of
follow the leader.
the United States
is the greatest place
in the world to invest.
We have some shake ups
that are going on
because of a few
bad apples.
Some people call me
a bad apple
but I may be bruised
but I still taste sweet.
Some people call me
a bad apple
but I may be the sweetest
apple on the tree.
These are not just
a bunch of bad apples.
This is just
a few bad apples.
This is not just
a few bad apples.
You've gotta get rid
of the bad apples
You can start
with Tyco
Bad apples
We know all
about WorldCom.
Bad apples
Xerox Corporation.
Bad apples
Arthur Anderson.
Bad apples
Enron obviously
bad apples.
K- mart Corporation
Bad apples
the fruit cart is
getting a little more full.
I don't think it's just a
few apples unfortunately.
I think this is the worst
crisis of confidence
in business.
What's wrong
with this picture?
Can we not pick
a better metaphor
to describe the dominant
institution of our time?
Through the voices of CEOs
whistle blowers
brokers gurus and spies
insiders and outsiders
we present the corporation
as a paradox
an institution which
creates great wealth
but causes enormous
and often hidden harms.
I see the corporation
as part of a jigsaw
in society as a whole
which if you remove it
the picture's incomplete.
But equally if it's
the only part
it's not going to work.
A sports team.
Some of us are
blocking and tackling.
Some of us
are running the ball
some of us are
throwing the ball.
But we all have
a common purpose
which is to succeed
as an organization.
A corporations
like a family unit.
People in a corporation work
together for a common end
Like the telephone system
it reaches almost
everywhere.
It's extraordinarily powerful
it's pretty hard to avoid.
And it transforms
the lives of people
I think on balance
for the better.
The eagle
soaring clear eyed
competitive
prepared to strike
but not a vulture.
Noble visionary majestic
and be inspired by
that creates such
a lift that it soars.
I can see that being
a good logo
for the principled
company.
Okay guys
enough bullshit.
Corporations are
artificial creations.
You might say
they're monsters
trying to devour as much
profit as possible
at anyone's expense.
I think of a whale.
A gentle big fish
which could swallow you
in an instant.
Dr. Frankenstein's creation
has overwhelmed and
overpowered him.
As the corporate form
has done with us.
The word corporate gets
attached in almost
you know in a
pejorative sense to
and gets married
with the word agenda.
And one hears a lot about
the corporate agenda
as though it is evil
as though it is an agenda
which is trying
to take over the world.
Personally I don't
use the word "corporation"
I use the word business.
I will use the word
use the word company.
I will use the words
business community
cause I think that is a much
fairer representation
than zeroing in on just
this word corporation.
It's funny that I've taught
in a business school
for as long as I have
without ever having
been asked so pointedly
to say what I think
a corporation is.
...it is one form of
business ownership...?
It's a group of individuals
working together to serve
a variety of objectives.
The principal one
growing sustained
legal returns
for the people who
own the business.
The modern corporation has
grown out of the industrial age.
The industrial age
began in 1712
with an Englishman named
Thomas Newcomen
invented a steam driven
pump to pump water
out of the English coalmine
so the English coalminers
could get more
coal to mine
rather than hauling
buckets of water
out of the mine
It was all about productivity
more coal per man hour.
That was the dawn of
the industrial age.
And then it became more
steel per man hour
more textiles
per man hour
more automobiles
per man hour
and today it's more
chips per man hour
more gizmos per man hour.
The system is basically
the same system
producing more
sophisticated products today.
The dominant role of
corporations in our lives
is essentially a product of
roughly the past century.
Corporations were originally
associations of people
who were chartered
by a state
to perform some
particular function.
Like a group of people
want to build abridge
over the Charles River
or something like that.
There were very few
chartered corporations
in early United
States history.
And the ones that existed
had clear stipulations
in their state
issued charters
how long they
could operate
the amount of
capitalization
what they made or did
or maintained
in their charter
and they didn't
do anything else.
They didn't own or couldn't
own another corporation.
Their shareholders
were liable.
And so on.
In both law and the culture
the corporation was considered
a subordinate entity that was
a gift from the people
in order to serve
the public good.
So you have that history
and we shouldn't
be misled by it
it's not as if these
were the halcyon days
when all corporations
served the public trust
but there's a lot
to learn from that.
The Civil War and the
Industrial Revolution
created enormous growth
in corporations.
And so there was an explosion
of railroads
who got large federal
subsidies of land.
Banking heavily
manufacturing
And corporate lawyers
a century and a half ago
realized that they needed
more power to operate
of the constraints
that had historically been
placed on the corporate form.
The 14th amendment
was passed
at the end of the Civil War
to give equal rights
to black people.
And therefore it said
No state can deprive
any person of life
liberty or property
without due process of law.
And that was intended
to prevent the states
from taking away life
liberty or property
from black people
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