What is a business for?

If you have ever played games with my siblings, you will quickly learn you won’t win unless you cheat. I don’t win much. 

Will a business ever prosper without cheating? I found this week my Economics reading was interesting as we learned about collusion. I was left wondering how that is an honest business practice, but maybe only because the heading included cartels. And well, maybe this is a concept I will need to unlearn as Charles Handy teaches in “What is business For?” in 2002 Harvard Business school publishing. There is an element of trust that can erode quickly as a shareholder only wants more in his pocketbook and the owner wants to make a difference, or at least did, until profit margin was the most important aspect of business. Businesses are pushing their losses into the future so they can realize gains now. Stockholders want profit, not loss. So with that pushing off the inevitable loss, they are creating a false bubble that will eventually pop the economy. Without realizing it the business industry has sacrificed virtue and integrity slowly over time to create a now, self-interested economy.

But maybe more important than the bottom dollar line for the investors pocketbook is the whole reason of the existence of a business is to “do something more or better.” Yes, turning a profit so they can do more.

Two solutions that Charles suggests, in his article, that I would support are 1) giving a share of the profits to the key players who are responsible for bringing in those profits. When one is giving monetary incentives, most will work harder to bring in more profit and create more success for the company. They will feel personally vested in the company. And 2), measure our success by what we have done for others, as well as ourselves. A company that is looking out for how to help themselves to have a positive footprint on the world, within the environment, and society, as a people, will be able to rise above the self-oriented business environment to an outward looking business.

Even though my siblings were able to win at their card games most of the time, they lose fellow players because most don’t want to keep playing with them. I am hopeful that the mantra of “cheaters never prosper” will hold true into the future with businesses in America and they can reframe their thinking to an honest and virtuous economy.