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The sole purpose of the company is ... to increase shareholder value The root of all evil, right there. I prefer companies whose sole purpose is to act as an
by dhimes 16y ago
The sole purpose of the company is ... to increase shareholder value
The root of all evil, right there.
I prefer companies whose sole purpose is to act as an engine of change for a better world. Even Drucker's (?) "sole purpose of a company is to get and retain customers" is better.
My real problem with your quote (from Friedman is it?) is that when a majority, or even a vocal and persuasive minority, or people adopt that attitude it throws out a lot of the social constraints in place to keep people running the companies from doing things that harm us as a society. That is, "he was just acting in his own best interest" can be used to justify many acts that are selfish and short-sighted, because there are no social consequences of this. Even people of high personal moral standards are willing to give a pass to evil deeds because "he did what he had to do."
I disagree.
- yummyfajitas 16y agoI'm not really sure how your comment is remotely relevant to my post concerning how a company should dispose of a cash surplus (buyback/dividends vs reinvestment). Could you explain?
- dhimes 16y agoI was commenting on the portion I quoted.
- pkaler 16y agoYou are conflating the words value and revenue. Change is a type of value. Time is a type of value. Happiness is a type of value.
- dhimes 16y agoYou are absolutely right. I was referring specifically to financial value. I bet I'm not the only one who makes this unconscious substitution, but you are nevertheless correct.
- loewenskind 16y agoI wish someone would have addressed this post instead of just downvoting. I wouldn't go as far as to say "root of all evil", nor do I think it's a companies responsibility to "make the world a better place" per se but "increase shareholder value" does usually end up meaning "current shareholders". That is, it seems to lead to short term gains at the cost of the long term.