Alex Edmans (London Business School) - EDHEC Speaker Series

Alex Edmans, Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School, gives a lecture on "Do corporations need a purpose?".

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Purpose is the corporate buzzword of today, with politicians, the public, and even shareholders calling on businesses to serve wider society. But purpose is also controversial. Milton Friedman famously wrote that “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits”, and this statement is far more nuanced than often portrayed – the only way to increase profits, at least in the long-term, is for a company to invest in customers, employees, and communities. Is it sufficient for a company to focus on long-term profits, or does it need a purpose beyond even long-term profits? We will hear from Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School and author of “Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit”, recently translated into French.

EDHEC Discussants are Hamid Boustanifar, Associate Professor, and Laurent Deville, Associate Professor and Financial Economics Track Director.