The Corporate Objective (The Final Cause of Business)

Name: Karl Jason Comin
Subject: BM 215 Philosophy of Business
The Corporate Objective (the final cause of business)
I. Introduction
The final cause of objective is the end of which a thing exists or has been created or
been made. Everything tends towards this end, which means that everything has a
purpose or objective or goal.
On this issue of the final cause of business, the nagging question is whether profit
alone is the objective of business, or service in its various forms is also an objective as
much as profit is.
II. Summary of the Topic/s/Topics Digest
ADDRESSING THE ISSUES (Principle of the End Concept)
In searching for the objective of business, the task is to analyze that objective in
the light of the end concept, likewise taking into consideration both the distinction and
complementation between the concepts of business and the businessman.
VIEWS ON BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

The concept that a corporation’s sole purpose is profit has been associated with
Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman who contended that the most socially responsible
role for business would be to make a profit, use resources efficiently and obey the law; in
other words, to maximize stockholder profits. He advanced the following main arguments:
First, stockholders are the owners of the corporation and hence corporate profits
belong to the stockholders.
Second, stockholders are entitles to their profit by virtue of a contract between
them and the other stakeholders: manager and employees get their wages, the
government gets its taxes, suppliers get the returns for their products, and the
stockholders deserve to get what remains in the form of profit.
THE OBJECTIVES OF BUSINESS
Having shown that the objective of business is not only profit but also service, it
should further be shown how profit is an objective and how service is likewise an
objective. It should be noted that business is a complex concept and is a much more
complex process. Business is concerned with profit, business provides service, business
intends the satisfaction human needs, business is expected to contribute to quality of life
and of society, to name a few of the business objectives. There are others, but those
mentioned are considered the basic or most fundamental ones.
III. Recommendations
In the light of the concepts of profit and service, it is evident that both profit and
service are objectives of business and of the corporate entity. Profit is easily
demonstrable a business or corporate objective at which level it is shown to be the
motivating ultimate end or the businessman’s personal reason for going into business.
Service is distinguished as core or marginal. It is the core service which constitutes the
other ultimate end of business.
Profit and service cannot exist apart from each other in the task of carrying on the
business. The business firm provides service to make profit or, putting it the other way
around, makes profit by providing service. In other words, service generates profit, as
profit is an incentive for service.
IV. Conclusion
The importance of profit cannot be denied. It is the necessary and indispensable
nourishment of a business organization that enables it to survive, operate and grow.
Without this proper nourishment, the organization will die. As a motivation for the
company to provide its service, it must earn profit, in the same way that while the principal
objective of a product is the provision of its product service, the manufacturer of this
product is motivated by the profit it expects to make from it.

On the other hand, the objective of the company, as a company, is what it exists
for, and that is to provide its company service in the way that a product exists to provide
the service for which it is produced.
Between profit and service, a relationship of precedence exists. In terms of
operations, service is the objective. In terms of motivation, profit is the objective. Again,
between the two, service is the objective of the company; profit is the objective of the
businessman. Now, since profit is what service aims to achieve, and profit cannot be
achieved without service, we can say that the company’s objective is profitable service.

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Name: Karl Jason Comin

Subject: BM 215 Philosophy of Business

The Corporate Objective (the final cause of business)

purpose or objective or goal.

much as profit is.

II. Summary of the Topic/s/Topics Digest

ADDRESSING THE ISSUES (Principle of the End Concept)

complementation between the concepts of business and the businessman.

VIEWS ON BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

belong to the stockholders.

Second, stockholders are entitles to their profit by virtue of a contract between

stockholders deserve to get what remains in the form of profit.

THE OBJECTIVES OF BUSINESS

mentioned are considered the basic or most fundamental ones.

demonstrable a business or corporate objective at which level it is shown to be the

other ultimate end of business.

profit is an incentive for service.

The importance of profit cannot be denied. It is the necessary and indispensable

nourishment of a business organization that enables it to survive, operate and grow.

product is motivated by the profit it expects to make from it.

the service for which it is produced.

Between profit and service, a relationship of precedence exists. In terms of

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