A greedy legacy?

Anyone studying public relations with me will be familiar with Milton Friedman’s famous quote that “the business of business is business.”   The economist believed the only social responsibility of management was to the shareholders and to society via employing people and paying taxes.

Interesting then to see a significant proportion of oppose a generous “golden goodbye” package for CEO John Browne at the oil giant’s AGM.

Browne has been much respected with a strong personal reputation – but problems at BP, especially over its safety record, have tainted the image of the company, and Lord Browne.

The appearance of such executive pay deals is that management doesn’t care much about the views of shareholders – and Browne is happy to leave a legacy of a damaged corporate reputation and even a poor personal one – provided he benefits financially.

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Heather Yaxley PhD

Dr. Heather Yaxley is passionate about sustainable careers, reflective practice and professional development. I am a rhizomatic educator, practitioner, consultant, academic and scholar. As a qualified academic, I teach the CIPR professional qualifications with PR Academy and have experience teaching at various Universities. I run the Motor Industry Public Affairs Association (MIPAA) and my own strategic consultancy. I was awarded by PhD researching Career Strategies in Public Relations by Bournemouth University in 2017. I'm a published author, with books, chapters and academic papers to my name.

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  1. Pingback: CEO problems and crisis management « Heather Yaxley - Greenbanana views of public relations and more

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