Do corporations need a purpose?
In January 2022, EDHEC Business School has launched a new online monthly speaker series on “The Future of Finance”. The objective is to address the most recent advances in the financial industry and discuss how finance can be a powerful tool for tackling key economic and social challenges. To do so, this series gather all year long international renowned industry experts and academic scholars reflecting the research culture and intellectual commitment of EDHEC. The targeted audience is the current EDHEC Business School finance graduate students, the EDHEC alumni, and the members of the enlarged EDHEC community and guests.
On April 18, 2023, EDHEC welcomed Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School, on "Do corporations need a purpose?".
Purpose is the corporate buzzword of today, with politicians, the public, and even shareholders calling on businesses to serve wider society. But purpose is also controversial. Milton Friedman famously wrote that “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits”, and this statement is far more nuanced than often portrayed – the only way to increase profits, at least in the long-term, is for a company to invest in customers, employees, and communities. Is it sufficient for a company to focus on long-term profits, or does it need a purpose beyond even long-term profits?
A great opportunity to gain insights from the author of “Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit”, recently translated into French.
EDHEC discussants were Hamid Boustanifar, Associate Professor, EDHEC Business School and Laurent Deville, Associate Professor and Financial Economics Track Director.
About EDHEC
Operating from campuses in Lille, Nice, Paris, London and Singapore, EDHEC is one of the world’s top 15 business schools. Fully international and directly connected to the business world, EDHEC commands a strong reputation for research excellence and the ability to train entrepreneurs and managers capable of breaking new ground. EDHEC functions as a genuine laboratory of ideas and produces innovative solutions valued by businesses. The School’s teaching is inspired by its research work and a focus on “learning by doing”, all with the aim of equipping people with the skills to succeed in business.
