Most businesses are driven to maximize profit, but what does this drive really mean in action? In Profit Motive: What Drives the Things We Do economist Charles Sauer makes the case that identifying your own and others’ “Profit Motives” provides the foundation for running a successful business, being an effective leader, a good consumer, and getting what you really want out of life. In this highly praised new treatise on economic behavior, Sauer examines how businesses make decisions in pricing and employment and how the search for long-term profit can mean adopting practices that may seem contrary to fundamental capitalist principles. But the Profit Motive analysis goes well beyond the realm of finance and corporate decision-making to explain how gaining a profit, or a benefit, is the motivating force behind an endless array of choices made by everyone from large organizations to individuals and their families―and everything in between.

In America today, a public official's lawful income consists of a salary. But until a century ago, the law frequently authorized officials to make money on a profit-seeking basis. Prosecutors won a fee for each defendant convicted. Tax collectors received a cut of each evasion uncovered. Naval officers took a reward for each ship sunk. The list goes on. This book is the first to document American government's "for-profit" past, to discover how profit-seeking defined officials' relationship to the citizenry, and to explain how lawmakers-by banishing the profit motive in favor of the salary-transformed that relationship forever.

The UK government in common with the governments of many Western countries is in the midst of implementing policies to reform education. However, the government has, as a matter of principle, decided that profit-making schools cannot provide state-funded education even if they would lead to substantial improvements in quality. This monograph makes the case for widespread acceptance of the profit motive in education. It does so not by presenting statistics that demonstrate that profit-making organisations could drive up quality there is already a substantial literatureon this. Instead, the authors show how profit-making organisations could create an entirely new dynamic of entrepreneurship and innovation. As well as improving quality and reducing costs within existing models, such an approach could lead to the development of completely new ways ofproviding education. The authors of this monograph have a range of international experience. Many of them have run profit-making schools in countries more accepting of the profit motive than the UK, suchas Sweden. Others have struggled against the odds to participate in education reform programmes in the UK. Overall, this collection makes an important contribution to the international debate about education reform

Our market system has evolved in line with capitalist philosophy, and at its heart is profit. But while profit can be a powerful motive, it is not always used responsibly and, in the worst cases, this can have damaging effects at a wider level. The calls for a corporate conscience grow louder, but no one has yet suggested an alternative to profit that people find as compelling. Profit is here and now. In this climate, the solution is to refine the profit motive, not replace it. We all value things, and we’re all motivated by what we value. If value could replace the profit motive, it would reconcile the interests of CEOs, shareholders, citizens and government. Profits would still rise but at the same time society would gain value. This book is a call to manage for maximum value – to follow The Value Motive. Kearns Endorsements "In 'The Value Motive,' Paul Kearns clarifies the confusing concept of 'value' and shows how it can be used to transform thinking and action in organizations. Paul's books are always stimulating and controversial, and this one is no exception. If you are interested in creating more value in your organization and willing to have your existing mental models challenged, then you should read this book!" —Dean Spitzer, Performance Measurement Thought Leader, IBM Research, and author of "Transforming Performance Measurement" USA "I have worked with a host of HR professional over the years. To date I know of noone that compares to Paul when it comes to presenting the issues and challenges of managing human capital and providing practical approaches for doing so. Like his past books, The Value Motive, brings clarity to a world of HR, which often is filled with disarray and recommendations that tend to be driven by political correctness rather than by the intent to produce value. Paul's discussion of value as a driving force in organizations (in addition to profit) brings together the worlds of for and not for profit organizations. It also provides an overarching theme that includes the best interest of all stakeholders, customers, community and shareholders alike. This certainly represents a very much needed approach." —Finnur Oddsson, Ph.D., Director of MBA Programs & Executive Education, Reykjavík University, Iceland "This is a timely, forward-looking, and convincing exposition delving into why value is a better determination of sustained ROI than profit. Paul provides simple, yet valid methodology regarding how much value is added by any organizational activity. His writings are a must for anyone measuring the true effectiveness of people development, an organization’s primary value-added activity." —Tery Tennant, Attainment, Inc, USA

War Is a Racket is a famous anti-war book written by retired Major General Smedley Buter. In the book, Butler discusses how businesses profit from conflict.

In this penetrating analysis, Bradford Gray tackles the thorny issues surrounding the question of to whom and for what our physicians and hospitals are accountable. This book provides a careful evaluation of the mechanisms of accountability that have developed along with a growing profit orientation of health care, and it alerts us to keep a sharp eye focused on who is looking out for the interests of the patient.

A timeless classic of economic theory that remains fascinating and pertinent today, this is Frank Knight's famous explanation of why perfect competition cannot eliminate profits, the important differences between "risk" and "uncertainty," and the vital role of the entrepreneur in profitmaking. Based on Knight's PhD dissertation, this 1921 work, balancing theory with fact to come to stunning insights, is a distinct pleasure to read. FRANK H. KNIGHT (1885-1972) is considered by some the greatest American scholar of economics of the 20th century. An economics professor at the University of Chicago from 1927 until 1955, he was one of the founders of the Chicago school of economics, which influenced Milton Friedman and George Stigler.

"[This book is] the most authoritative assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of recent trends toward the commercialization of health care," says Robert Pear of The New York Times. This major study by the Institute of Medicine examines virtually all aspects of for-profit health care in the United States, including the quality and availability of health care, the cost of medical care, access to financial capital, implications for education and research, and the fiduciary role of the physician. In addition to the report, the book contains 15 papers by experts in the field of for-profit health care covering a broad range of topicsâ€"from trends in the growth of major investor-owned hospital companies to the ethical issues in for-profit health care. "The report makes a lasting contribution to the health policy literature." â€"Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law.