Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Free enterprise is justified by its benefit to society, not by its benefit to business.
In plain terms
Free enterprise exists to serve society, not just to make businesses money.
What can you take from it?
Justify business systems by societal value, not just profit.

Where it applies

  • policy making
  • business ethics

Putting it to work

  • measure societal impact
  • prioritize public good

Questions to consider

  • How do we measure 'good for society'?
  • Can profit and social good align?

Another view

Businesses often prioritize profit over social good.

More from Peter F. Drucker

  1. Capitalism is being attacked not because it is inefficient or misgoverned but because it is cynical. And indeed a society based on the assertion that private v…

    Permalink to quote #51
  2. For if this country... were to make its defense program a function of its domestic employment situation, it would become impossible to conduct a constructive a…

    Permalink to quote #53
  3. The fundamental reality for every worker, from sweeper to executive vice-president, is the eight hours or so that he spends on the job. In our society of organ…

    Permalink to quote #50

Related quotes

  1. With some notable exceptions, businessmen favor free enterprise in general but are opposed to it when it comes to themselves.

    Milton FriedmanMilton Friedman quote #9
  2. No matter how deeply wedded one may be to the free enterprise system (and I, for one, am wedded for life), one has to accept the need for positive government; …

    Peter F. DruckerPeter F. Drucker quote #42
  3. In the usual (though certainly not in every) public decision on economic policy, the choice is between courses that are almost equally good or equally bad. It …

    John Kenneth GalbraithJohn Kenneth Galbraith quote #1