From our class discussion last Tuesday, three things really surprised me about Corporations. Nearly a week later, they seem to have found a nearly permanent place within my memory.
The first surprise came relatively early class. We were nearing the end of our topic on 17th/18th century “Chartered Corporations” when Professor Luchs revealed that the concept of shareholder wealth was actually a byproduct of colonization. Since Royal Charters required such substantial funds, royalty had to pool capital from wealthy investors. As compensation, most investors were awarded lands in areas conquered by colonial imperialism. I found this most interesting because of it’s direct correlation to my modern B-School education, where corporations, equities, and financial securities are major topics of emphasis. I never really stopped to think where the concept of shareholder wealth all started. And I never would have guessed that the origins were initial investments in Royal Charters to explore the “new world”.
Second, I’d never analyzed the era of colonialism’s global, imperial reign to reveal its simplest form: a Monopoly on land. This is especially true regarding the 13 American colonies. For example, I’d always considered the American Revolutionary War to have been colonists rebelling against an egregious British Monarchy. However, perhaps a more accurate train of thought would instead be to believe we really gained our independence by removing ourselves from an imperial monopoly. On another note, I do find it rather ironic that the young U.S., a country that had just withdrawn from an oppressive monopoly, grew economically fond of its own monopolies in the era of “Industrial Corporations.” As our growing country spread westward, industrialized, and modernized, we tended to build upon on new monopolistic foundations from Robber Barrons such as Carnegie and Rockefeller.
My final semi-enlightening experience appeared to me towards the end of class. I was aware that the first two eras of corporations, “Chartered Corporations” and “Industrial Corporations: lasted for ~100 years old. However, I never realized that we are only ~50 years into the “Third Generation” of corporations, giving us another ~50 more years before a new era begins. I believe that marketing will have an incredible impact on the direction our country goes in the latter half of the “Third Generation”. I have been fascinated by marketing’s evolution over the first 50 years of this era. The transformations from simple trade, to careers in sales, to entire marketing companies are captivating, and I agree that modern marketing is evolving into an era of “sustainability marketing.” I further believe that this most modern era will eventually force all corporations to produce sustainably. Such unsustainable corporations will eventually become exposed and will be fazed out after time if they don’t revise their tendencies and mend their image.