Corporate Values Strategy Group

From 2003-2015, the Aspen Corporate Values Strategy Group (CVSG) focused on ensuring that corporate and investment practice better supported the long-term health of society.

History:

Short-term pressures in capital markets restrict the ability of business to do what it does best—create quality goods and services, invest in innovation, and develop human capital. Rebalancing the short-term/long-term focus of business will make it possible to bring a wider view to the role of business, one that encompasses both fiscal and societal well-being.

Program strategies included:

• Convenings and dialogues. Bringing together senior business leaders, investors, corporate governance experts, labor leaders, and academics to discuss strategies for promoting change in business practice, investment practice and policy in support of long-term value creation that benefits both shareholders and society.
• Drafting of and outreach related to the Aspen Principles  (Long-Term Value Creation: Guiding Principles for Corporations and Investors, released June 2007) and the policy corollary to the Principles, released September 2009, “Overcoming Short-termism: A Call for a More Responsible Approach to Investment and Business Management.”

CVSG Resources for Further Information:

• Read the Compelling Case for Change, a document prepared by the Business and Society Program to address short-termism in U.S. capital markets.