profit motive
Desire for gain
The profit motive is the drive to earn money beyond costs—the incentive that supposedly animates business decisions in capitalist economies.
Economists treat it as a fundamental assumption: firms maximize profit, and this pursuit coordinates production and innovation.
Critics argue the profit motive distorts priorities, putting shareholder returns above workers, consumers, or the environment: The profit motive explains why drug companies charge what the market will bear.
Impetus toward a goal
- driveOperate a vehicle
- ambitionDesire for achievement
- self-interestConcern for personal advantage
- rewardPayment for service
inducement · stimulus · impetus · aspiration · entrepreneurial spirit · risk-taking · opportunity · initiative
Supply-demand price drivers
- supply and demandPrice-determining economic forces
- competitionStruggle for supremacy
- efficiencyProductive without waste
- resource allocationAssigning available means strategically
scarcity · opportunity cost · marginal benefit · value creation · productivity · economic growth · trade · exchange
Creating and managing ventures
- free marketCommerce without state intervention
- privatizationState sells public assets
- deregulationRemoving governmental business restrictions
- laissez-faireNoninterference in commerce
neoliberalism · shareholder value · corporate greed · wealth accumulation · industrialist · tycoon · magnate · commodification
Business income total
- ROIProfit-to-cost ratio
- bottom lineEssential point or conclusion
- shareholderEquity owner in corporation
- dividendsProfits paid to shareholders
monetization · valuation · margins · earnings · quarterly results · cost-cutting · efficiency · overhead
Excessive desire for wealth
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
- short-termismFocus on immediate results
- unethicalViolating moral standards
predatory · price gouging · environmental harm · externalities · public good · social cost · unsustainable · whistleblower
motivation
Impetus toward a goal
- driveOperate a vehicle
- ambitionDesire for achievement
- self-interestConcern for personal advantage
reward · inducement · stimulus · impetus · aspiration · entrepreneurial spirit · risk-taking · opportunity · initiative · competition
market forces
Supply-demand price drivers
- supply and demandPrice-determining economic forces
- competitionStruggle for supremacy
- efficiencyProductive without waste
resource allocation · scarcity · opportunity cost · marginal benefit · value creation · productivity · economic growth · trade · exchange · capital
entrepreneurship
Creating and managing ventures
- free marketCommerce without state intervention
- privatizationState sells public assets
- deregulationRemoving governmental business restrictions
laissez-faire · neoliberalism · shareholder value · corporate greed · wealth accumulation · industrialist · tycoon · magnate · commodification · exploitation
revenue
Business income total
- ROIProfit-to-cost ratio
- bottom lineEssential point or conclusion
- shareholderEquity owner in corporation
dividends · monetization · valuation · margins · earnings · quarterly results · cost-cutting · efficiency · overhead · fiscal
greed
Excessive desire for wealth
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
- short-termismFocus on immediate results
unethical · predatory · price gouging · environmental harm · externalities · public good · social cost · unsustainable · whistleblower · accountability
- capitalismcapitalism, free market, free enterprise, private property, supply and demand
- motivesintent, intention, purpose, goal, aim
- business philosophiescapitalism, free market, lean, kaizen, agile
- corporate practicesmerger, acquisition, takeover, buyout, layoff
- free marketsfree market, free enterprise, free trade, free markets, laissez-faire
- healthcare problemsmedical errors, misdiagnosis, high costs, long waits, staffing shortages
profit motivealtruism
Prioritizing others' wellbeing
philanthropy · public service · humanitarianism · benevolence · selflessness
profit motivesocialism
Communal economic control
communism · collectivism · public ownership · central planning · gift economy
profit motiveselflessness
Prioritizing others over oneself
disinterestedness · generosity · self-sacrifice · asceticism · renunciation
profit, motive, profits, profitable, nonprofit, profitless, unprofitable, profiteer, profitability