The other point I wanted to make was with regard to what a business is about. The idea of business existing purely to make a profit is a bit Victorian in practice to me. There exists in practice a number of groups that influence the company and what it is about. Pure short term profit can be sacrificed for longer/medium term benefit to all these groups. One of these groups (e.g. a bank with a mortgage deed) can be more important than pure profit over a few years. This is stakeholder theory see Stakeholder Theory
