Declining confidence in capitalism is being presented as a management problem rather than an ideological one, with Yale researchers arguing that companies can rebuild public trust by creating value for customers, employees and communities alongside shareholders.
Ravi Dhar, a professor at Yale School of Management, and Jon Iwata, executive director of the university’s Programme on Stakeholder Innovation and Management, reached the conclusion after interviewing more than 200 chief executives over six years.
Their analysis comes as Gallup reports that 54% of Americans hold a positive view of capitalism, the lowest result since the polling organisation began tracking the measure in 2010. The figure has fuelled concerns that businesses are increasingly seen as extracting value from society rather than generating it.
But the Yale researchers said the executives they interviewed generally rejected the idea that stakeholder interests must come at the expense of shareholder returns. Their argument is that the long-term interests of investors, customers, employees and local communities can reinforce one another when a company is properly designed and managed.
Walmart’s long-term bet
Walmart is cited as an example of a company that accepted significant short-term costs in pursuit of a broader recovery.
When Doug McMillon became chief executive in 2014, the retailer was struggling with falling like-for-like sales, weaker customer satisfaction, high staff turnover and growing competition from Amazon. Its reputation as an employer was also affecting how it was viewed by potential customers and communities considering new stores.
McMillon’s team responded with a multi-year investment programme covering employees, technology, e-commerce, stores and lower prices. The decision carried an immediate financial penalty. After Walmart disclosed in 2015 that the spending would depress earnings, its shares fell by about 10% in one day, wiping more than $20 billion off its market value.
The company continued with the plan. Comparable sales subsequently recovered and compounded, while Walmart became the first traditional retailer to pass a $1 trillion market valuation in February 2026. It also appeared on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list for the first time in 2024.
McMillon later said that designing a business to benefit all its stakeholders was the best way to deliver returns to shareholders. The Yale researchers argue that the emphasis should be placed on “designing”: simply declaring that interests are aligned does not make them so.
Starbucks puts the customer experience first
Starbucks offers a second example of how individually defensible decisions can weaken a company when their combined effect is ignored.
The coffee chain introduced charges for non-dairy milk, removed some customer amenities and expanded its menu and mobile-ordering operation. While each measure could improve revenue or reduce costs, the overall result was a more complicated experience for customers and a heavier workload for baristas.
Brian Niccol, who became chief executive in September 2024, attempted to reverse that drift by restoring condiment bars, ceramic mugs and more comfortable seating. The company also removed its non-dairy surcharge, despite the customisation business generating more than $1 billion a year.
Starbucks accepted an initial reduction of about 60 basis points in its North American operating margin as a result. It also cut roughly 30% of its menu and invested more than $500 million in staffing and support for employees.
The company’s latest results suggest the turnaround has gained momentum. Starbucks has reported four consecutive quarters of comparable-sales growth, with global comparable sales rising 7.9% in its latest quarter. The company’s own account of the strategy says the staffing investment has improved scheduling, leadership stability and service standards.
Rio Tinto and the value of trust
For Rio Tinto, the lesson concerned an asset that does not appear on a balance sheet: its social licence to operate.
In 2020, the mining group destroyed the Juukan Gorge rock shelters in Western Australia, a site with evidence of 46,000 years of human occupation. Although the demolition was lawful at the time, it triggered a backlash from Traditional Owners, political inquiries and investor scrutiny. Three senior executives, including the chief executive, ultimately left the company.
Jakob Stausholm, who took over as chief executive, treated the crisis as a failure of capability and governance rather than a communications problem. Rio Tinto invested in community engagement, cultural-heritage expertise and systems for managing relationships with Indigenous communities.
The company recorded a total shareholder return of 66.4% over the five years to the end of 2025. The figure does not erase the damage caused at Juukan Gorge, but it illustrates the researchers’ wider point: the value of physical assets can depend on less tangible assets such as trust, reputation and community consent.
The same principle may apply to industries expanding rapidly in areas where local opposition can restrict growth, including artificial-intelligence data centres. Customer confidence and workplace culture can also determine whether a business is able to deliver its strategy.
Dhar and Iwata argue that managing these relationships should become a core leadership discipline. Their central message is not that companies should abandon profits or shareholder returns, but that lasting returns are more likely when businesses understand how those outcomes depend on the value created for everyone connected to the enterprise.
