Are corporations designed simply to maximize profit, or do they carry a deeper social responsibility? What happens when shareholder value becomes the dominant logic guiding business decisions? And how might redefining corporate purpose reshape education, leadership, and the future of society?

Colin Mayer is a Professor of Management Studies at the University of Oxford and a leading voice in the global debate over corporate purpose. He is a former Dean of the Saïd Business School and one of the most influential thinkers questioning shareholder primacy. His research focuses on corporate governance, financial systems, and the role of business in society, and he has advised governments and institutions around the world on reforming capitalism.

In this episode, we explore Colin’s argument that corporations have drifted away from their original purpose. He challenges the narrow focus on short term profits and instead proposes a model in which companies are designed to solve problems profitably rather than profit from problems. We discuss how financial incentives, governance structures, and regulatory frameworks shape corporate behavior, and why meaningful reform requires changing the underlying architecture of business itself.

Our conversation also turns to the implications for education and leadership development. If future leaders are trained to view profit as the sole measure of success, the system will reproduce itself. But if education expands to include responsibility, long term thinking, and institutional design, new possibilities emerge. This episode offers a powerful reconsideration of capitalism and asks what it would mean to align business with human and societal flourishing.