Ownership, responsibility and leadership – a historical perspective

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the great lines of managerial thoughts concerning ownership, business, social responsibility and leadership. The perspective of consideration is historical, and especially conceptual. We noticed that in the twentieth century a modern business ideology began to take form. Old suppositions according to the classical economic theory about the nature of economic activities started to give way when the modern professional manager type came into the management of the firm. At that time also there developed the idea of the firm as an institution with many targets. The position of the firm in society changed, people started to make demands for a wider social responsibility. It was desired that this responsibility would be allocated to the firm and the top management on the basis that they had the obligation to do so. In this way management as a public steward is obliged to maintain and develop social targets. Further, it was essential that firms themselves began to understand the necessity of taking responsibility. Instead of maximizing profit in the short run, this was replaced by the relevant functioning which emphasized the firm’s long‐term benefit.