There’s business, and there’s ethics.
Pick one.
Comment on Does the government keep capitalist interests on the top ?
jeffw@lemmy.world 1 year agoMost business ethics stuff I’ve seen from the past 10-20 years directly rebukes stakeholder theory and the Friedman purist view of “profits are all that businesses should care about”.
Although… how many CEOs have read books on corporate ethics?
Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 1 year ago
bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 1 year ago
It’s not hard to run a business ethically. I own a business myself, and I know a number of small business owners that do the same. The problem is when you have shareholders, especially as a publicly trade corporation, then you’re legally required to put shareholder demands above your personal operational philosophy.
Huxleywaswrite@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s possible to run a small, private business ethically.
CaptObvious@literature.cafe 1 year ago
Business is not my specialty, but I do have the sense that the ethical viewpoint is shifting away from Friedman. Unfortunately, the law is not. Shareholder supremacy is still mandated in the US, by my understanding, and ethics be damned.
jeffw@lemmy.world 1 year ago
But the ethics arguments do get into that a bit. For example, if you want to maximize value for shareholders (note that is a distinct term from stakeholders), do you give employees more benefits? That encourages retention. Turnover is super fuckin expensive, so you can make the argument that higher pay and increased benefits add shareholder value.
Basically, it’s not such a black-and-white legal argument
Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Although everything you say is true, most businesses believe that it’s better to hold on to that money, just in case they “need it more” than the people that make it for them.