Corporation

WESLEY B. TRUITT is Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University's graduate School of Public Policy in Malibu, California, and former and former Executive-in-Residence at the College of Business Administration, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, specializing in business planning, business-government relations, and international business management. He is also a member of the Persius Consulting Group and serves as an independent management consultant and as advisor to the RAND Corporation. For over 25 years he served in a variety of management positions at the Northrop Grumman Corporation. He speaks to industry groups, business schools, think tanks, and government agencies, and has testified for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. He is the author of Business Planning (Quorum, 2001) and What Entrepreneurs Need to Know About Government (Praeger, 2004).

• Series Foreword Preface Chronology of Events Development of the Corporation Transformation of the Corporation The Post-Modern Corporation Benefits of the Corporation Establishment of a Corporation Operating a Corporation Corporations in Other Countries Multinational Corporations Appendix: Nestle S.A., Profile of a Multinational Corporation Corporate Governance The Future of the Corporation Notes Glossary Selected Bibliography Index

"Truitt, a practitioner and academic, provides an accessible introduction to the nature of corporations. He begins with an overview of the historical evolution of the corporation as a form of economic organization based on the principles of capitalization and limited liability. Moving from medieval chartered companies through the postmodern corporation, he examines the transformative forces shaping the structure and strategies of contemporary business entities. An instructive example is Wal-Mart, now the largest corporation in the US with gross revenues of $288.1 billion, compared with $193.5 billion for General Motors. Other chapters cover such topics as the benefits accruing to owners and employees of corporations; the legal requirements for creating a corporation; routine operations of a corporation; international comparisons and multinational corporations; corporate governance through boards of directors; and a concluding chapter on the future of the corporation in the global economy....[T]ruitt offers an informative, readable guide to an important, often controversial topic in modern economic life. Glossary of common terms associated with corporations; selected bibliography of books and articles. Recommended. All levels of undergraduates as well as general readers." - Choice