Rethinking the CEO.

• Author: Castellani, John J.
• Position: Book review - Book Review

Jeffrey E. Garten, The Politics of Fortune: A New Agenda for Business Leaders, Harvard Business School Press, 2002.

In his new book, Jeffrey Garten uses the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the corporate scandals of the past year to illustrate the growing alignment among the interests of corporate executives, government, and the American people as a whole. Therefore, he argues, CEOs must engage with public policymakers to seek solutions to national issues and adapt their way of thinking to reflect responsibilities to a society as a whole as well as to their shareholders.

Garten's strength and originality lie in his overall thesis that CEOs should retake the lead in public responsibility, and seek to partner with governments and NGOs in doing so. He generally cites existing programs or ideas that provide best practices which can be emulated. Among these are The Business Roundtable's Security Task Force which has partnered with the Federal government to provide a means for connecting CEOs with top security officials within minutes to protect and defend our nation in times of crisis, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has taken a proactive effort to improve healthcare worldwide.

Garten writes clearly and concisely and is at his best when he diagnoses the obsession with short-term thinking that underlies most of the problems that have afflicted the capital markets over the past year. He identifies the latent power of institutional investors to drive corporate governance, as well as their failure to appreciably do so. Working from his professional expertise, his call for a reform in the way business education is conducted and business schools are rated is timely and his further efforts on this matter should be interesting, especially as dean of a top tier school.

Garten's argument for more consistent international accounting rules, if a case of somewhat wishful thinking, draws an important line...