Concluding Remarks

Abstract

To close the discussions of the purpose of business as presented in this volume, consider how our collective experience of the first part of the twenty-first century has related to our understanding of business in society. As the last century ended, a boom driven by the commercialization of the Internet was in full sway. By contrast, the new century began with a bust; the “dot-coms” of the “new economy” soon learned that speed, complexity, technology, and ideas could not compete without products, customer service, trust, and a way to make money. But along the way, many people (investors, employees, customers, communities) were hurt.