The antidote to inequality is equality. The question is how do you achieve equality? I believe that, for business, which is where I can speak, we have to shift from shareholder maximization to stakeholder maximization.
Interpretation
Achieving equality requires prioritizing the interests of all stakeholders rather than just shareholders.
In this quote, Marc Benioff emphasizes that addressing inequality fundamentally involves promoting equality across different groups within society. He argues that businesses should transition from a focus on maximizing profits for shareholders to considering the needs and interests of all stakeholders, including employees, customers, and the community, to create a more equitable environment.
In practice
This quote can be used in a presentation about corporate social responsibility.
Once you know what you want and what is important for you to achieve, also define the values associated with it. What is important? That is something a lot of entrepreneurs pass by too quickly. For us, the things that were important were, No. 1, customer success. Nothing is more important to us than making sure every customer is successful in our service.
I strongly believe the business of a business is to improve the world.
The secret to successful hiring is this: look for the people who want to change the world.
I don't look at business as a zero-sum game. I don't. I've never seen it play out that way in our industry, and I think you innovate and you add value, deliver value back to customers, and you get value back from the world.
Although I loved working on technology - I've always been a computer geek at heart - my professors encouraged me to get a real-world job working with customers.
The only constant in the technology industry is change.
Ultimately, what any company does when it is successful is merely a lagging indicator of its existing culture.
If I only had two dollars left I would spend one dollar on PR.
Management innovation is going to be the most enduring source of competitive advantage. There will be lots of rewards for firms in the vanguard.
What makes us so often discontented with those who transact business for us is that they almost always abandon the interest of their friends for the interest of the business, because they wish to have the honor of succeeding in that which they have undertaken.
I was never, ever interested in becoming a businessman or an entrepreneur. If I was a businessman, or saw myself as a businessman, I would have never gone into the airline business.
Marketing is the way your people answer the phone, the typesetting on your bills and your return policy.
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