3 ms·
Yes, this. Once upon a time (a few dozen years ago at most) a company was expected to not only provide for its own longevity, but to provide tangible benefits
by falcolas 5y ago
Yes, this.
Once upon a time (a few dozen years ago at most) a company was expected to not only provide for its own longevity, but to provide tangible benefits to its community (good paying jobs that allowed their employees to support their families being one such benefit). We look back on the historical exceptions (AT&T, Standard Oil Co., etc.) because they were exceptions (and because of how they were dismantled by the government - another lesson companies should take).
- wolverine876 5y agoPeople now assume that 'maximizing shareholder value' is the natural and only law of corporations, that to act otherwise is unnatural perversion, and should be suppressed. But it is just a philosophy, mostly in the US and UK, developed in the 1970s primarily by Milton Friedman in this famous essay, https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedman-doctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedman-doctr... and by Michael Jensen and William Meckling in their paper, "Theory of the Firm". These days it is widely rejected afaik. First, anything taken to an extreme is absurd on its face; of course shareholder value is important, but it's not the only priority. Second, it's not hard to see how conveniently self-serving the idea is to powerful, wealthy, sometimes egocentric individuals who own a lot of shares - 'yes, the purpose of the world is to maximise my value! Milton Friedman said so!' Third, there are many other models that work very well, such as the German one.