The Corporation in the 21st Century

Outline

The Corporation in the 21st Century (2024) explains how modern companies really create value today. John Kay argues that successful businesses now depend less on factories and physical assets and more on knowledge, skills, teamwork, and collective capabilities. He shows how this shift changes our understanding of ownership, competition, and finance, and why old economic ideas often fail to describe today’s businesses.

• Modern companies create value mainly through knowledge, skills, teamwork, and collective capabilities rather than factories and physical assets.
• John Kay argues that successful businesses now depend less on physical assets than they once did.
• The shift toward knowledge and shared capabilities changes how we should think about ownership, competition, and finance.
• Older economic ideas often fail to describe how today's businesses actually work.

John Kay is a British economist and author who has taught at the University of Oxford and the London Business School and written a long-running column for the Financial Times. He has led major reviews of financial markets for the British government. His books include Obliquity, Other People’s Money, and The Corporation in the 21st Century.