It seems that a central tenet of American business nowadays is that being a profit-making enterprise is no longer enough. Instead, it's important to harness corporate energies to larger social goals, like gender sensitivity, racial diversity, and environmental awareness. The trend culminated this past August in the Business Roundtable's proclamation that the American corporation must no longer tend exclusively to shareholder interests, but should serve all stakeholders affected by business.
In other words, the business of business isn't exclusively business, but must include activity that we formerly regarded as philanthropy.
New York Times columnist David Gelles recently reminded us (hat tip to Marc Gunther) that such well-meaning sector-bending has its limits.
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