SHAREHOLDER CAPITALISM
TRUDI MAKHAYA: Social benefits of purpose-driven firms
Purpose-driven business debate identifies positive socioeconomic outcomes as the business sector's reason for being
The pursuit of a purpose-driven approach to business has gained steam in the past few years. This movement has been advancing steadily, motivated by intellectual currents that seek to optimise the effect of business in society. It is a response to a yearning expressed by civil society across the world to hold business to account for its effect on society. Over the past five centuries, the rise of modern capitalism has been accompanied by periodic social, ecological and economic crises that can be traced to its development and global spread. These have been met with various responses from outright rejection, to advocacy for alternative systems, to reformist approaches seeking to limit its excesses and harness its fruit for human good. Others have argued that the flaws that are often pinned on capitalism are the result of excessive market power that distorts free and open markets, and/or excessive government intervention in the economy.The purpose-driven business debate falls in the r...
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