I firmly believe that the corporate objective should be maximizing value.
Not stakeholder wellbeing,
Not taxes,
Not ESG,
Not even profits.
People view the maximization of profits as the same with that of value. There is a subtle, but important, difference between the two.
Companies can maximize profits in a variety of ways, that end up destroying value. For example, they can cut costs by laying off valuable people, they can externalize costs to stakeholders (polluting the environment, addicting users), they can push accounting to the limits, or lobby for higher barriers to entry.
When a firm cuts the best employees, it sacrifices future growth. This may never be measured because it is hard to estimate what could have been given “X”, but it has the visible capacity to incur additional HR, time, training costs and competition leaks down the line.
Externalizing costs can sometimes brand a company for life, or serve them legal penalties if society reforms. It also weakens the population, which lifts the cost for associating with the company.
There are plenty of ways to be creative in the ways a company shows profitability. Companies can use this to promote their stock to investors, but frequently end up facing legal battles or permanent reputation damages in the investment community.
Higher barriers to entry. No one escapes competition. Having the government push regulation and tax cuts in the favor of a company, can increase profit margins, which inspires the competition to be even more aggressive in taking a market share, and this will be happening while the company that is being subsidized grows large, inefficient and lazy.
As you can see, maximizing profits tends to lead to a short-term gain and sacrifices the future.
Maximizing value means maximizing long-term profits.
It is providing a just, stable service that benefits customers. It necessitates seeking high margin ventures, and making rational financial decisions that will minimize overall time and money waste.