Towards a Non-Privative View of Business

Because the two parties to a business transaction have significantly different priorities, business has been thought of in terms of confrontation. But the cooperative aspect of business association is equally important, and in many institutions, whose significance has not been recognised, predominant. The confrontational aspect, however, cannot be eliminated. Both individuals and firms may need to be subjected to a searching hard look, to see if they measure up to external standards. Nevertheless, though sometimes necessary, it is always costly, and can be counter-productive. The chief emphasis is on cooperation, especially as business becomes more concerned with ideas and less with things; and the more this is realised, the readier businessmen should be to respond to a wider range of obligations, often being able to obtain, by virtues of the resources they have at their disposal, desirable results which would not otherwise be forthcoming, and which, at least in indirect ways, benefit both the firm and its shareholders.