These sorts of statements always scare me a bit. First, businesses are still required to give maximum benefit to shareholders.
Second, even if this was the goal of a business, it then leaves it up to businesses(boards?, CEOs?) to define things like "ethically", "important benefits", "diversity" etc. These aren't things you could get all people to agree on in the first place- hence the whole democracy thing we do. A lot easier to make these statements then turn them into policies.
Let businesses do what they do best - give them a set of constraints (laws) and let them maximize value. If they do "good" things as well, great, if not, fine. If we don't like the outcomes (environmental damage, inequality) change the rules to change the value equation.
This is scary, but it is important we recognize that we can be controlled and have our behaviour modified by altering our environment - and that is can be a good things.
Who hasn't delete Steam from their computer for a few weeks, thrown out junk food or set up a good workspace in order to promote a behavior in ourselves we want to cultivate, to be more like the person we want to be?
The important thing is that in those situations our environment remained under our control and conscious, and we need to ensure our personal and digital environment remain under our control, and its goals are transparent - and I am not sure companies like Google do or will always agree.
Second, even if this was the goal of a business, it then leaves it up to businesses(boards?, CEOs?) to define things like "ethically", "important benefits", "diversity" etc. These aren't things you could get all people to agree on in the first place- hence the whole democracy thing we do. A lot easier to make these statements then turn them into policies.
Let businesses do what they do best - give them a set of constraints (laws) and let them maximize value. If they do "good" things as well, great, if not, fine. If we don't like the outcomes (environmental damage, inequality) change the rules to change the value equation.