Who should come first in a business: customers, shareholders or staff? This question is the corporate version of the parlour game I outlined last week concerning power, money and reputation – who wins the triangular struggle for priority?

At Johnson & Johnson, the fabulously successful healthcare business, the answer is, apparently, customers, customers, and customers. Serving them well over many decades has clearly worked for the other stakeholders – its shares have performed outstandingly in the long run, while its staff have enjoyed the security of working at an expanding and reputable company.

However, this formula does not necessarily apply in other industries. For example, supermarket suppliers are notoriously bullied by their customers, the retailers, and they tend to make low margins. I recently met the owner of one supplier who refuses to work much for any British grocer save Waitrose, because the others demand such onerous terms. It is surely no coincidence that Waitrose is part of the John Lewis Partnership, where the owners are also the staff – so there are only two elements in the bargain, rather than three.