Jack Welch, who is regarded as father of the “shareholder value” movement, has said the obsession with short-term profits and share price gains that has dominated the corporate world for over 20 years was “a dumb idea”.

“On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world,” he said. “Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy…your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products.”

read the entire article Welch condemns share price focus at FT.com of  March 12 2009

the follow up article Jack Welch Elaborates: Shareholder Value BusinessWeek March 16 2009