The current economic crisis has raised serious questions about the doctrine of shareholder value maximization. In light of these questions we find corporate executives increasingly expressing doubts and confusion over what the proper goal of their businesses should be. Meanwhile, many observers...

Private equity and venture capital firms must master a complex set of skills to obtain healthy returns by successfully selecting, structuring, monitoring, and exiting their investments in companies. Before we discuss how they do that, and how well they have been delivering on the challenge...