Who is a company for — not legally speaking, but philosophically? Some people say it belongs to the shareholders, others to its employees. Still others say a company exists for its customers’ sake. What do you think?
A company is for its shareholders. They own it. They control it. That’s the way it is, and the way it should be. Don’t take our bluntness wrong; your question is hardly a no-brainer. In fact, it’s at the heart of an ongoing public policy debate about corporate ownership, or more broadly put, about “voice.”
The voice debate is complex and contentious — we can hear the Political Correctness Police revving their engines right now! The reason is that so many activist groups make the case for a say in company policy. Labor leaders, for instance, will tell you that businesses can’t run without their people, yet they earn far less than executives. Shouldn’t workers get a bigger piece of the action to correct that inequity? Elected officials will talk about a company’s toll on local residents — clogged traffic, pollution, and depressed housing values.
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