Back in the 1980s, the economist Al Rappaport captured the spirit of the times by devising a new goal for the corporation: the maximisation of shareholder value. The measure of a CEO's achievement was the total return achieved for shareholders during his tenure.

Bill Allen, Boeing's legendary leader from 1945 to 1968, once described his company's ethos like this: “To eat, breathe and sleep the world of aeronautics.” By 1998, the CEO there saw it differently: “We are going into a value based environment where unit cost, return on investment, shareholder return are the measures by which you'll be judged,” said Phil Condit.

This was happening across industries. Britain's ICI offered a lofty description of its ideals in 1987: “ICI aims to be the world's leading chemical company … [enhancing] the wealth and well-being of our shareholders, our employees, our customers and the communities which we serve and in which we operate.” But, by 1995, the threat of a hostile bid galvanised the management, and the company declared: “Our objective is to maximise value for our shareholders by focusing on businesses where we have market leadership, a technological edge and a world competitive cost base.”