Danielle Park - To Serve and Profit or To Profit and Serve? #4043

What is the purpose of a corporation or business? Do they exist to simply maximize profit, regardless of abiding by a code of ethics or the laws of the land? Or are they here to serve the so-called stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, creditors and the community at large? Obviously a company must turn a profit in order to continue its existence. Every entity, whether natural or man made, first seeks to insure its own survival and for businesses that means turning a profit. When they seek profitability at the cost of everything that we all hold near and dear, then perhaps they've give up the right to perpetual existence or maybe it's time to flush out management. Culture matters and certainly the ideal of an overly altruistic company that puts its public service endeavors above those of the company will eventually fail. What's your opinion?