Self-interest in Business

Niccolo Machiavelli said, "It is better to be feared than to be loved."  What does that mean?  As discussed in my digital civilization class, it means that people do things out of self-interest.  Think about it...we do things because we expect things in return.  We study for our tests because we hope it will help us to perform better on the test.  Would you go to work each day if you weren't going to receive a paycheck at the end of the month?  If the majority of our decisions every day are made our of self-interest, what happens when a business or cooperation bases its decisions out of self interest?   

What happens when executives want all the power for themselves?  Do companies flourish if the men at the top are too power-hungry?   I say NO.  If executives can get everyone involved instead of wanting all the power for themselves, there business will proper.  No employee likes going to work if they are not treated well or taken care of.  If executives forfeit some of there power/ salary and take care of there employees, companies will prosper.  Employees will be happier and work harder leading to greater company profits if executives share the wealth/ power.  The cool thing for the executives is that if they follow this framework, they will in essence get all of there wealth back because there companies will flourish. 

In the blog post " Can enlightened self-interest take business into a just, sustainable future?", Karimbeers talks about a higher purpose, a spiritual one, in order to promote a sustainable and just future.  Sometimes companies might have to forfeit some profits in order for there company to survive.