Rethinking Friedman’s Doctrine in 2020
One of the most persistent myth that has shaped the last 50 years of business was that ‘the social responsibility of a business is to increase its profits’.
It was the famous economist Milton Friedman who came up with this definition in an article in the New York Times, and it is still at the root of our concept of what a business is. When people assume that the most important thing for a business is to grow, the purpose is merely a buzzword or the sole purpose of work is to make money, the article is the iconic representation of where these ideas are coming from.
Now after 50 years since its original publication, the New York Times has started a dialogue to rethink the doctrine with one of the most influential people in the business. And luckily, most of them are skeptics as well.
Reading the experts made me think there is hope and also there is a lot of work to be done. We need to figure out ‘What could replace this old doctrine and how?’
What did it make you think?
