Stakeholder Capitalism

9Companies

When former SAP co-CEO Jim Snabe—a member of the World Economic Forum's Board of Trustees—joined shipping giant A.P. Møller-Mærsk in 2016, the Danish multinational was getting ready for a major transformation. The 112-year-old company had had a hugely successful run in the years before he joined but had in recent years suffered from challenging market conditions in both the shipping and the oil industry. As a consequence the revenue had declined from $60 billion to $30 billion, and the conglomerate was making a loss. Looking ahead, it needed to make sure it evolved with the times and remained relevant for another 100 years. Its transportation services gave people access to markets and goods from all over the world, increasing their standards of living, and creating millions of jobs in all markets, participating in global trade along the way. But the company also contributed greatly to greenhouse gas emissions and enabled a global economic system in which inequality and increased market concentration were the order of the day. Could Snabe help the company become a champion of the stakeholder capitalist model he thought was necessary for companies to thrive?

As with every behemoth, Mærsk was once a small start-up, looking to capitalize on new opportunities in a changing world. The company was founded in 1904 in the small Danish coastal town of Svendborg by a young man, A.P. Møller, and his father, Peter Mærsk-Møller, to bring goods in and out of the tiny Baltic port. ...