http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Gekko
“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.”
-Gordon Gekko, Wall Street
No other quote sums up the view (based in fact) by the general population of major corporations. This is why whenever a company does something positive, like taking the role of a non-profit, it is taken with a grain of salt. However, certain companies have recently appeared to take positive steps in being responsible corporate citizens. A recent article by Leah Eichler in the Globe and Mail talks about this concept, and how to be profitable while being responsible. This is the idea of the “Triple Bottom Line,” or how to merge the economic, social and environmental aspects of running a business.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line
In the article, Phillip Haid, CEO of Public Inc., cites Toms shoes as an example, which donates a pair of shoes for every shoe sold, but has a comfortable casual walking shoes as its core product. I think using a triple bottom line is incredibly important for a company, because even though the company its self does not have a responsibility to maintain good practices (how can it, it’s not a person), but the people working for it do. Gordon Gekko might not agree, but the consequences of not behaving ethically can and will have severe repercussions.
