Is it okay in business to think as long as we are not doing

Is it okay in business to think as long as we are not doing anything illegal and ethically marginal is okay to do business this way as long as we are maximizing the shareholders equity as a major stakeholder

Solution

An argument can be made either way. At one extreme, we could argue that in a market economy, all of these things are priced. This implies an optimal level of ethical and/or illegal behavior and the framework of stock valuation explicitly includes these. At the other extreme, we could argue that these are non-economic phenomena and are best handled through the political process. The following is a classic (and highly relevant) thought question that illustrates this debate.

Therefore it is not okay in business to think as long as we are not doing anything ilegal and ethically marginal is ok.