On September 13, 1970, Milton Friedman wrote an article, The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits. One of Milton's theories suggested that the only legitimate incentive for a corporation to exist is to maximize profits with its shareholders. As companies progress over time, so does the reason for their existence. “What makes a stakeholder?” Isabel Hilton (GE Stakeholders 2009)“What makes a stakeholder? If you take a broad view of the business, almost everyone who is affected by the operation of the company is a stakeholder. There is a narrow view, which is about shareholding, profit and profit line. But there is a much broader vision, which includes all the other activities, all the other impacts that the business can have. So if as a company you go and do something in a particular community, you know there's a financial calculation, but there are all kinds of other social calculations, there are social impacts, there are benefits, there are disadvantages. And the view of an enlightened company is that all of these things are important.” Isabel Hilton (CEO, China Dialogues & Journalist) (GE Stakeholders 2009) A stakeholder comes from a wide variety of people and activities that impact the company; from shareholders and investors to consumers to product distribution, as well as everything in between. This can affect the growth of the company as a whole. When groups of people come together to form a small study group or company, they are all capable of accomplishing something. They can achieve something small, like passing a test to something bigger, like contributing to society. Investors use company performance ratings to evaluate how well the company is doing over a period of time. To satisfy its investor...... middle of paper ......ite/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090721005113&newsLang=enWeb. July 21, 2009“GE Foundation Fact Sheet”http://www.ge.com/foundation/about_ge_foundation/ge_foundation_fact_sheet.jspWeb.“Environment, Health and Safety”http://www.gecitizenship.com/our-commitment-areas/ environment-health-safety/Web. 2010“From Newsweek: Global Companies”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT7yOamJ-tY&feature=player_embedded Web. 14 April 2009“Citizenship”http://www.ge.com/company/citizenship/ Web .“Rethinking the Social Responsibly of Business”http://reason.com/archives/2005/10/01/rethinking-the-social-responsi/stampa Web. October 2005 The New York Times Magazine: "The social responsibility of a business is to increase its profits" http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html Magazine. September 13th 1970