

While clearly there is a place for government and nonprofit organizations to address the many issues surrounding income inequality (see Parts 1 and 2 of this series), one hears less about what can be done through the private sector. Yet business and its managers need to play an important role.
Here are some of the ideas discussed in Darden’s “Economic Inequality and Social Mobility” course taught by Professors Jim Freeland and Ed Freeman, as well as specific examples of what various businesses are doing. An overriding philosophy is to adopt a new story for business — one that adopts and emphasizes a model of creating stakeholder value. Focus not just on the owners but also the employees, the customers, the suppliers, and the community.
It is evident that there is no “magic bullet” or single solution to the problems and challenges created by increasing economic inequality. We need to try lots of things that will provide new marketable skills and mindsets for learning, figure out how to keep what works, spread the news and stop doing those things that don’t work. We need experiments that use evidence-based results to understand what is scalable. Opportunity Insights, formerly The Equality of Opportunity Project, has the mission to “develop scalable policy solutions that will empower families throughout the United States to rise out of poverty and achieve better life outcomes.” Directed by academics from Stanford University, Brown University and Harvard University, it’s an excellent example of the kind of research hub that can make a difference. The locus of action must be local, even though we will need organizations with a more national and global focus to spread the good ideas.
Freeland has wide-ranging expertise; with an extensive background in operations management, his current area of focus is economic and opportunity inequality, and he teaches on both topics.
Freeland joined Darden in 1979 and served as the senior associate dean for faculty and research from 1993 to 2012. In that role, he oversaw the hiring of more than 60 new faculty members and significantly increased both the research productivity and diversity of the Darden faculty. Before coming to Darden, Freeland taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Georgia Institute of Technology.
BSIE, Bradley University; MSIE, Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology
Freeman is best known for his work on stakeholder theory and business ethics, in which he suggests that businesses build their strategy around their relationships with key stakeholders. His expertise also extends to areas such as leadership, corporate responsibility and business strategy. Since writing the award-winning book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach in 1984, countless scholars, business leaders and students worldwide have cited Freeman’s work.
Freeman also wrote Managing for Stakeholders: Survival, Reputation and Success and Stakeholder Theory: The State of the Art.
B.A., Duke University; Ph.D., Washington University