Management gurus, economists and chief executives have long debated what the main purpose of a company should be. In 1970, the economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman famously argued that the primary responsibility of a company is to its owners, namely its shareholders. He dismissed the idea of a company funding social causes as, in effect, spending other people's money for its own benefit.

"The Friedman doctrine," which maintains that the primary purpose of a company is to maximise shareholder returns, held sway for decades, and is still influential in the world's boardrooms.