Mike Duggan for Detroit Mayor

[Motor City Sam]

No. The point of a city government is to serve the public. The point of a business is to make money. If you're running a city government to make money, you're doing it wrong.

Exactly. Well said.

[corktownyuppie]

Exactly. Well said.

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Many would argue that the principal role of a business is to make money for those who have invested in it, and as a result, many corporate decisions are often made with the sole goal of increasing profits. However, according to the late Peter F. Drucker, the forefather of modern management, this view is erroneous.

Essentially, Drucker believed that the consumer should be the focus of, and purpose for, the organization. He explained, "A company's primary responsibility is to serve its customers, to provide the goods or services which the company exists to produce. Profit is not the primary goal but rather an essential condition for the company's continued existence. Other responsibilities, e.g., to employees and society, exist to support the company's continued ability to carry out its primary purpose."
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The purpose of a business is to serve a customer.
Making money is a byproduct of serving the customer.

Detroit does the first one poorly.
Therefore the second one suffers.

Detroit doesn't need to make money. But it needs to have money in order to survive. In order to to have money, it needs to serve a customer.

We, the citizens of Detroit, are that customer..