Harmonising ESG practices

IN THE 1970s, Milton Friedman talked about the purpose of a corporation. He argued that a corporation had only one purpose — to make profits for its shareholders. For over three decades, this was the prevailing logic in the global economic system.

But after the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, and especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, the world has come to realise that corporations cannot focus solely on making money without being responsible to anyone else. These days, even business-linked advocacy groups like the World Economic Forum and the US-based Business Roundtable talk about a stakeholder economy.