>>10880339
There's a difference between caring about customers as a means to an end, profit, and genuinely caring about your customers.
You hit the nail on the head when you explained short term versus long term profit, but you fail to see the value inherent in a customer-focused business model, or that it is plausible.
Like I said, profit-centric as you described it is valid, successful, and the way to go in many cases.
But customer centric is also completely valid in its own right, it's just a different way of doing things. Look at companies like Eddie Bauer, Red Wing Shoes, and the like. These are companies that have extremely liberal return policies, almost open door in some cases. But it works. Red Wing Shoes has been in business for over a century and they don't advertise. Because their customers do. Does this mean they don't care about money? No. It's speaking to priorities. Priority number one for companies like that is customers.
So no, there is not one-size-fits-all motivation. Indeed there shouldn't be. Diversity and competition is what makes capitalism thrive. You need people willing to be idealistic, just as you need people to be realistic. It's not one or the other. It's both.
But fundamentally, as you described, it's a desire for larger short-term profits that undercut both customer bases and long term sales that I take issue with. That's a damn foolish way to run a business and I see it everywhere these days.