As Japanese firms seek to adopt more elements of western-style business management practices and ideas, pressure appears to be mounting on corporate executives to increase shareholder value.
But is the supposed maxim of U.S. business -- that companies exist to maximize shareholder value -- really correct? Bob Emiliani, professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lally School of Management and Technology, in Connecticut, does not think so.
"Most people seem to agree with (that notion). They don't seem to question it and automatically seem to agree with it," Emiliani told a symposium held June 18 at Keidanren Hall in Tokyo.