People, planet, and profits: re-purposing the company
Ross B. Grantham
Abstract
The social and environmental costs imposed by business corporations on society are significant and, as a society, we are increasingly concerned about how to mitigate these impacts. It is this concern and the apparent inability of government to take decisive steps that has made the question of the company's purpose the hottest topic in corporate governance. This article explores recent proposals by several highly eminent bodies to fundamentally reconceive of the company as a purposeful entity that exists, not to make profit, but to solve the problems faced by people and planet. The article will assess the normative arguments that underpin these proposals and will highlight the shortcomings of a purposeful company approach.
2 citations
Evidence weight
Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40
| F · citation impact | 0.36 × 0.4 = 0.15 |
| M · momentum | 0.80 × 0.15 = 0.12 |
| V · venue signal | 0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03 |
| R · text relevance † | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.