If a shareholder holds a million shares while another shareholder holds but ten, then it is more important to have the assent of the first than of the second. Likewise, if one customer purchases a thousand items and another customer but one, it is more important to have the assent of the first customer than of the second. Differences of magnitude can occur along a given dimension and give rise to different consequences. However, it is pointless to ask which of the three elements is the most important one. Each has its own legitimate expectation. Each strives to maximize the return that it gets from the company in which its commitment is invested. Each, therefore, strives to be the one of which the other two are expressions. This is the essence of the company system. To put the shareholder in a permanently dominating situation is to turn the system into an exploitive rather than an economic system.
March 3rd, 2020 ~