| Pieter 2008-01-14, 10:34 am |
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"Ken Abrams" <harvest_this@scum.suckers> wrote in message
news:5sKij.7434$se5.6115@nlpi069.nbdc.sbc.com...
>
> "Ramon F Herrera" <ramon@conexus.net> wrote
>
>
> Big business has a responsibility to do something besides make
> money.....?????
> What a novel idea. Maybe it will catch on someday.
The interpretation that all big business wants is to make money is a bit
simplistic. The mantra at business school is "maximize shareholder wealth."
This can mean just raking in the cash as quickly as possible. However, it
can also mean doing those things which may not be profitable or obvious in
the short term in order to realize bigger gains down the road in the longer
term. For Google this could well mean that exercising some responsibility
today might cause a downtick in earnings today, but with the potential to
encourage more use and more revenues a year or two in the future. Many
companys engage in self-regulation, many industries have associations which
certify standards (for a cost).
I for one would quickly concede the point that many executives are way
overpaid and that companies spend too much time worring about quarterly
earnings projections and results when the real test should be far longer
term. However, its really not all that unusual for companies to act in the
public interest when doing so will enhance their vision of their own future
or incurr costs today with the expectation that earning will be improved in
the future. We call that "investment." Its anything but a novel idea.
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