Valuing stakeholders over shareholders to secure business longevity

Family businesses can expect to be able to join the Century Club if they adhere to the principles of Vicki TenHaken who lists them in her book 'Lessons from the Century Club'.  These principles were recently quoted by US portfolio manager, Chris Mayers, in a recent blog on the virtues of investors building longevity into their portfolios.

According to Mayers there are only around 1,000 companies that have survived in the US for more than 100 years - the so called Century Club.  Staggeringly this is less than half a percentage of all businesses in the US.

One of these principles centres on businesses being rooted and visible in their communities and willing to engage with various causes.  Another principle is to engender business longevity include fostering long term employee relationships, another part of the stakeholder over shareholder concept.

The importance of this connectivity with stakeholders has been put firmly in the spotlight for may businesses as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, and will remain so in a post-pandemic world as the world pivots to a more values-based culture.