A Conglomerate for Good
Written on 09/12 at 04:59 PM by Andy Posner
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Filed under: Business environment
Conglomerates Abound
There is no shortage of conglomerates whose purpose is to maximize profit, at any cost, provided that no laws are broken (of course, we all know that laws are stretched and often broken). In fact, publicly traded companies have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to maximize profit; that is, they are required by law to do so. What this means is that a company cannot focus on social or environmental goals unless working towards those goals somehow helps the bottom line. As a result, the traditional approach taken by corporations with respect to social and environmental goals has been to 1)influence laws to their benefit, 2)avoid litigation, and 3)lower operating costs (e.g., by installing CFL light bulbs, cutting wages or benefits, or reducing packaging waste).
A consequence of this paradigm is that, at least in America, public policy is too often shaped by what benefits corporations rather than individuals; getting corporations to follow the law is time-consuming and expensive, since large companies have a fleet of high-powered attorneys at their beck and call; and only limited inroads have been made on fair trade, environmental sustainability, and other important issues.
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