11. What is a good company?

Lluís Vives Space / Jaume I University/UNED

This is a question that is not often asked in the business world. And when it occurs, the spontaneous response is usually the one that is economically successful. But as soon as we think about it a little more, we realize two things. The first is that the question is very pertinent; and the second is that simply attending to benefits as an indicator of goodness is very simplistic.

Following Aristotle's inspiration, asking what a good company is implies knowing beforehand what the essential goal of the company is, what its purpose is and its internal good. The answer to this question forces us to look in two directions: outwards (what do we contribute to society?) and inwards (what specific capacities does the company have to respond to these demands?).

As Adela Cortina said in her classic 1994 book, Ética de la empresa, "The goal of business activity is the satisfaction of human needs through the implementation of capital, of which human capital is an essential part, i.e. the capabilities of those who cooperate in the company." (Cortina, 1994: 43)

Thus, talking about a "good company" implies thinking, among others, about the following issues:

• What is the company's goal? What is my company contributing to society?
• What means am I employing to achieve that goal?
• Are profits a good indicator of a company's quality? Is a profitable company a good company?
• Should the company consider any social demand?
• Should involvement in social issues (poverty, climate change, politics, etc.), beyond business, be a requirement for the company? 
• What is the responsibility of management in creating a good company?
• ...

These and other questions will be at the centre of our dialogue with people that have extensive experience in the business world.

• Adolf Utor, president of Baleària
• Àngel Font, executive director of the CaixaResearch Institute and of Research and Health in Portugal of the Fundació ‘la Caixa’, president of Philea
• Araceli Císcar, executive director of Dacsa Group
• José-Félix Lozano, professor of Moral Philosophy at the UPV, author of Ethical Codes for the Business World (Trotta, 2004)