@Walter Kocker – as it happens, maximizing shareholder value did NOT used to be the main focus of CEOs or boards in this country; that was a theory built up in business schools and now accepted blindly.
Contributing back to the community and society at large was once a key factor: you were in the business to do more than make money for people who happened to own shares, you also took care of all your stakeholders, including your employees. Screwing over employees is bad business; sadly, the GOP Congress is willing to go along with it, and thus Wal-Mart can pay people so little that a significant percentage of their employees’ income is from welfare, while the Walton family pockets billions.
There has been a shift of late, talking about sustainability, and “civil society,” where a fuller understanding of corporate value is coming back. One can only hope it happens soon.
@Walter Kocker – as it happens, maximizing shareholder value did NOT used to be the main focus of CEOs or boards in this country; that was a theory built up in business schools and now accepted blindly.
Contributing back to the community and society at large was once a key factor: you were in the business to do more than make money for people who happened to own shares, you also took care of all your stakeholders, including your employees. Screwing over employees is bad business; sadly, the GOP Congress is willing to go along with it, and thus Wal-Mart can pay people so little that a significant percentage of their employees’ income is from welfare, while the Walton family pockets billions.
There has been a shift of late, talking about sustainability, and “civil society,” where a fuller understanding of corporate value is coming back. One can only hope it happens soon.