Capitalism at the Crossroads: Aligning Business, Earth, and Humanity, Second Edition

5. The Great Leap Downward

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, world commerce finds itself on the horns of a dilemma. First, with the unprecedented performance of stocks over much of the previous decade as a backdrop, shareholders now expect double-digit returns as a matter of course. For companies, this means not only delivering unswerving earnings performance, but also traveling an unrelenting trajectory of growth. Yet with the global economy still sleepwalking at an annual average rate of growth of 3–4 percent, how will companies generate the 10–20 percent growth in sales and earnings they require in the coming years? Indeed, the majority of large companies seem to be mired in saturated markets that have few significant growth opportunities. ...