Profit is not immoral.  Profit is a function of business.  Morality is a function of rational people, a system of conduct that defines behavior and prohibits causing harm, either directly or indirectly, to others, a matter of preventing or lessening of harms.  The question, then, is does the pursuit of profit lead to immorality in people?  Is there a benefit to profit, or can business be successful without the profit component?

Transitional economies can benefit from an alternative form of enterprise that identifies indigenous resources, community strengths and weaknesses, adds value and redistributes those resources as products or services throughout the community.  A cooperative is an integrative business network that aggregates resources and expenses to improve the purchasing power and returns of the members or joint-owners in a mutual benefit tradition.  It is a community institution in which many have an economic interest in its success, while individual units retain their independence as they participate as members of the co-op, who may include workers, customers, suppliers, volunteers, and sometimes governments.  Each is allocated their respective share of the proceeds as dividends based on patronage.  This form of structural networking increases the production possibilities of the cooperating entities thus creating a surplus. Essentially the group starts with basic products, shares the expense of processing, produces enough to satisfy the community’s needs, produces extra for sale in the marketplace, and shares in the proceeds through patronage dividends.

I had to pause and ask myself a question while reading the Times one morning:  Is profit even relevant?  What we really need to do is fulfill the basic human needs of millions of people at the bottom of the pyramid whose daily struggles go unrecognized, at least until a highly publicized event calls them to our attention.  In a sustainable business mission statement, profit maximization can no longer be the main objective as the success of enterprises will be measured in other terms.  Profit will be a by-product, an allowance, part of a collective exchange.  Non-profit companies will no longer be the chief providers of social services as the definition of business integrity will come to include the participation in the development of social capital within the communities they impact.  The motivations of business and community will be similar; differences between the two will become blurred.  Profit is not immoral, but it is at times irrelevant.  When enterprises focus on earning their profits as a means to fulfilling the needs of the poor or underserved, profit will become a function of people.