Manny Chirico: The CEO Balancing Act

As the role of the chief executive officer changes, Manny Chirico, chairman and ceo of PVH Corp., said there’s a balancing act one must perform when it comes to purpose versus profits. Chirico asked: “How do you prioritize your stakeholder groups, and how do you balance your company’s purpose with driving quarterly profits and meeting Wall Street expectations?” Chirico noted that there is increasing conversation and buzz today around what the purpose of a company should be, and there is the question of what role ceo’s should play as leaders both inside and outside their organizations. Around the world, frustration has grown with stagnant wages and uncertainty around the future, fueling popular anger and nationalism. Given the global macro backdrop, he said, the Business Roundtable, a nonprofit association based in Washington, D.C., whose members are ceo’s of major U.S. companies, recently released a new purpose statement that moved away from shareholder primacy and positioned all stakeholders as equal. “I think that’s a monumental change as you go forward, and it’s really going to challenge corporations…,” he said. The question of a company’s purpose dates back to the Seventies, he said. The American economist Milton Friedman put together “six thoughtful pages” on what the purpose

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