essay - GMAT: Issue 19

"If the primary duty and concern of a corporation is to make money, then conflict is inevitable when the corporation must also acknowledge a duty to serve society."

From your perspective, how accurate is the above statement? Support your position with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Answer:
The speaker states that a pursuit of money and contribution to society are contradicting each other for corporations. I don't agree with the opinion. I believe that not only is it possible, but also the aspect of coexistence of earning money and serving society is in a sense the essence of human beings.

First, from practical point of view, it is possible for corporations to maximize its profit and at the same time contribute to the society. In my country, Japan, the most profitable company is Toyota, a manufacturer of auto mobiles, and the most admired company in terms of contribution to society is Toyota too. Toyota produced the famous hybrid car, Prius, serveral years ago, and then has earned huge profit from the product because the sales figure is astonishing in the background of high gas prices. And at the same time, the car is designed for high fuel-efficiency and, I believe that this can be said, for the earth because it minimizes damege toward the earth in terms of its fuel-efficiency and the volume of gas emission. If a company has a mind of serving the society, in most cases, the company can earn money from its attitude.

Second, from philosofical point of view, earning money is the other side of the coin of serving society. Contributing society has value. Then the value represents itself in the form of money. I suppose that the first person to begin business in the history of human beings began his business in order to solve something needed to be improved, such as irrigating dry land or cultivating barren land. It was valuable for society, so he earned money in return for it. Therefore, it's nonsense to discuss whether earning money contradicts serving society or not. They are two sides of the same coin.

To sum up, I insists that it is possible that coprporations can maximize the profits and at the same time can maximize the magnitude of the contribution to the society. It's because earning money and serving society have the same meaning in our society, and it is just possible to have both simultaneously.