In every aspect of life, including the economic dimension, we are always challenged to do the right thing. In many cases in the market system, which allows a great deal of latitude for human choice, people can get carried away to excess.
In some of the countries where we operate, there is a tradition of corruption, in which the political elites work with business in the framework of unsavory relationships.
We should seek a system that provides outlets for those skills and talents so that everyone can find a way to work and serve in a manner that best suits the strengths of each individual.
The freedoms that people have that flow from all civic institutions fundamentally come from the success of a market system.
It makes no sense to talk of the social obligations of the corporation without reference to its economic obligations. The two are intertwined.
The competitive instinct is what I think drives organizations and people to become better and better. It can promote change toward progress and development, which is good for everybody. It can be the motivating force behind improvement in our social well-being that is far beyond anything we might have imagined on our own.
The market system requires that people be committed and willing to work hard. Inherent with that is what I call a merit system, which I think gives people the greatest opportunity.
He or she must be successful in economic terms, but always within an ethical framework. Whether his or her constituency is a corporation and its shareholders or the customers in a small and privately held business, his or her first responsibility is to serve that constituency.
It is important to remember that all business has an impact on the lives of real people.
The main professional responsibility of a person in business is business.
Without competition, the spectacular development of technology that we have seen in the last one hundred years in this country would not have happened.
I have a great deal of difficulty with those who live in a hugely prosperous country telling people in the developing world that they should be deprived of a critical source of energy.
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