Apple’s greatness, and its shame — from Harvard Business Review by Andrew Winston
Excerpts:
Is there such a thing as too much profit? A disciple of Milton Friedman would say “never.” The idea that companies should only maximize shareholder value has had a stranglehold on the business world for decades. It’s time to rethink this assumption.
…
Our system of competition yields amazing results — incredible technological innovation provided in massive quantities very quickly. But these marvels often rely on very real human costs. The whole system has some deep flaws that we must fix.
Apple prides itself on changing the game. So just imagine a world where the company applied its staggering innovation and design skills to create the iSupplyChain or iWorkingConditions. Everyone, including this fan of Apple products, would be a lot iHappier.
From DSC:
Readers of this blog already know that I’m a big fan of Apple’s products and Apple’s ability to reinvent itself, think big, and change the world.
But when Steve Jobs quickly answered Barack Obama (when the President asked what would it take for Americans to produce the iPhones, etc.) that “those jobs aren’t coming back“, his answer caused me to reflect on several questions:
- What is the ultimate purpose of a business?
- Does it exist solely to serve Wall Street and investors or does it exist to serve Main Street?
- Can there be a bit of both?
- How do local economies thrive when globalization continues to roll out?