John Truty wrote:
>I sometimes
>tire of the dominate thesis which places the "good" of the organization as
>the supreme end. We are bombarded with messages from all quarters (media,
>elected officials, the courts, religious figures-those that are reported
>by our media) that the welfare of human beings is tied to the welfare of
>our organizations (both public, private, profit and non), and the
>maximization of profit (please note I did not say the creation of profit I
>am referring to the maximization of it) is the virtuous goal , some
>maintain a moral obligation of the organization.
I agree entirely with John's view. The Goal, by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, has
done much to further the idea that the primary purpose of a corporation is
to make a profit, because without a profit, so his reasoning goes, there
is no corporation. However, without breathing, there is no me, yet my
primary purpose in living is not to breathe. Breathing is a necessary
part of what I do, as making money is a necessity for corporations, but
without a higher purpose our corporations are soulless - as most of them
are. The exceptions are those that truly adhere to a vision (Southwest
Airlines' primary goal is to provide safe, inexpensive travel to people,
for example).
Brian
briangordon@livetolearn.com
Live to Learn
www.livetolearn.com
--"Brian Gordon" <briangordon@livetolearn.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>