Interesse primario dell'azienda come principio di governo. Per un contributo dell'economia aziendale allo sviluppo sostenibile

The scandals and corporate failures combined with the global financial crisis that, at least in part, from the former found its origin, feed the economic, political, social and academic debate on what should be the objective (or purpose) of the firm. This consciousness has led many scholars and practitioners to criticize the theories that have been used for several years to understand and guide the firms’ behaviour, defining goals and how to achieve those goals. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, several scholars of the Italian discipline Economia Aziendale have shown that the crisis itself is largely the effect of the departure of the rules of good conduct suggested by that discipline. The aim of this article is to enter into the debate on the objective of the firm and more in general of the azienda – that covers all forms of economic organization (i.e. for-profit organizations, not-for-profit organizations, public administrations) –, to discuss the contribution that the Economia Aziendale can provide to this debate and to the sustainable economic development. To this end, it is proposed the concept of “primary interest of the azienda”, which includes two elements: 1) the objective of the azienda (i.e. satisfy human needs) and a condition for its survival and growth (i.e. create sustainable value).