The season finale features top Q&As from Harvard Business School faculty on finance, conflict management, branding, ethics, sustainability, and leadership. Insights include judgment in finance, storytelling for brand value, ethical considerations, and bridging skills for future leaders.

The idea that maximizing shareholder value takes legal and practical precedence above all else first came to prominence in the 1970s. The person who arguably did the most to advance the idea was the business school professor Michael Jensen, who wrote in Harvard Business Review and elsewhere that CEOs pursue their own interests at the expense of shareholders’ interests. Among other things, he argued for stock-based incentives that would neatly align CEO and shareholder interests. Shareholder primacy rapidly became business orthodoxy. It dramatically changed how and how much executives are compensated. And it arguably distorted capitalism for a generation or more. Critics have long charged that maximizing shareholder value ultimately just encourages CEOs and shareholders to feather their own nests at the expense of everything else: jobs, wages and benefits, communities, and the environment. The past few years have seen a backlash against shareholder capitalism and the rise of so-called stakeholder capitalism. After reigning supreme for half a century, is shareholder value maximization on its way out? 4 Business Ideas That Changed the World is a special series from HBR IdeaCast. Each week, an HBR editor talks to world-class scholars and experts on the most influential ideas of HBR’s first 100 years, such as disruptive innovation, scientific management, and emotional intelligence. Discussing shareholder value with HBR editor in chief Adi Ignatius are: Lynn Paine, professor at Harvard Business School Mihir Desai, professor at Harvard Business School Carola Frydman, professor at Kellogg School of Management Further reading: HBR: CEO Incentives—It’s Not How Much You Pay, But How, by Michael C. Jensen and Kevin J. Murphy New York Times: A Friedman doctrine‐- The Social Responsibility Of Business Is to Increase Its Profits, by Milton Friedman HBR: The Error at the Heart of Corporate Leadership, by Joseph L. Bower and Lynn S. Paine U.S. Business Roundtable: Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, 2019

Harvard Business School professors discuss U.S.-China trade, Disney, CVS Health, short-termism, and persuasive opinions. They recommend NBER, 'Bel Canto', 'Chernobyl', 'Fleabag', and the 'Best Green Salad in the World'.

Marketing, economics, and finance professors from Harvard discuss Uber's struggles, Apple vs. Qualcomm, Pinterest's IPO, Brexit fallout, and TV shows about business. Topics include tech industry challenges, Brexit repercussions, TV portrayals, and the value of reading S1 documents. They also touch on a young artist's rise and a finance meme trend.

Mihir Desai, a Harvard finance professor, dives into the complexities of financial literacy and its crucial role in decision-making. He discusses the balance between debt, skill, and luck, while emphasizing the need for improved financial education from childhood. Desai also sheds light on the importance of empathy in teaching, encouraging listeners to embrace failure as a learning tool. Additionally, he underscores the power of storytelling in finance, illustrating how narratives can foster greater accessibility and connection in the financial world.