That’s not what a fiduciary duty is. The fiduciary duty is for a broker dealer to act in your best interests rather than rip you off.
A company’s management has a duty to shareholders to work on behalf of the shareholders and not on behalf of their own well being. That usually means profit because that’s what most shareholders own the company for, not for charity. But there is no particular duty to maximize it at all costs. Damage to reputation and legal risk and the like are real concerns.
If anything, it’s the self-interested managers violating their duty who cut the most corners and burn goodwill, in the name of hitting short term goals and chasing their bonus.
As an example, if shareholders invest in your company despite saying you will never show targeted ads then they can't sue you for not showing targeted ads to increase profits.
Yes, company has fiduciary duty towards its shareholders. That term applies to any situation where there is trust involved, not only brokers. Though it's mostly applied to financial advisors and fund managers.
It's not much, and there's certainly room for considering ethics. In fact, you can do nearly anything that isn't actively repurposing part of the business for the directors' own use.
For example, one of the landmark cases affirmed the Chicago Cubs' right to leave tons of money on the table because their president believed that baseball was a "day-time sport" and wouldn't install lights for night games.
This is a huge oversimplification. Short term gains of breaching ethics might result in middle- and longterm reduced profit, regulatory action or opportunity for other players to eat their lunch. Businesses can follow ethics if they decide to, even when breaking them results in more immediate profits.
I've seen people state this before and it's just not true.
Companies absolutely can be good environmental stewards and pay their workers well in the interests of making money.Just like they can donate to charity while still doing proper fiduciary duty.
Do you mind if I ask you why it is you believe(d) that to be true? I'm really quite curious. I've seen others claim the same thing, as though it's some sort of law and doctrine.
But they still make money.