Worse yet increase shareholder value in the short term . That means if you can get more value for the shareholders in a quarter by dicing up , selling off , and dissolving the corporation , and raiding the employee pensions , thereby eliminating the economic stability and prosperity of an entire region , then that is what you must do . You know that the historical yield data on the stock market for the past 100 years indicates that shareholder value does consistently and permanently increase ? It is literally , mathematically , absolutely the best place on Earth to invest your money if you are a longterm investor . So however often corporations are looted and pillaged , as you suggest is a common Capitalist outcome , it doesn ' t actually happen very often .