ABSTRACT
In most private companies, management seeks to maximize its earnings potential in keeping with its competitive position in the marketplace. In Latin America Agribusiness Corporation (LAAD's) case, the prospect of high profits and dividends was not the motivation behind its foundation. At the outset, some founders even thought that making money was incompatible with a developmental mission and questioned whether LAAD should even be a profit-making company. A majority of the founders took the position that profitability was essential to provide the equity base needed for long term growth and to meet our third party obligations. Philosophically, they wanted to strengthen the concept of an open market, free enterprise, and profit-oriented economic system. The payment of dividends was not a motivating factor for the founding shareholders. It was management and not the board of directors that first proposed the payment of a nominal dividend in 1980, ten years after LAAD started operations.
