Originally Posted by
Itsajob
The name of the game is maximizing shareholder wealth, not making sound long term business decisions.
I'm not qualified as a CFO, but many of the buy/lease/own decisions are based by tax laws that (at different times) tend to favor one or the other.
When Delta went BK back in 2005, some of the largest "creditors" were Disney and Coke, not because of bills incurred but because those companies financed aircraft and leased the equip back to Delta in order to enjoy the tax depreciations credits.
Like poster above said, BOD of companies are supposed to maximize shareholder value, usually that corresponds to a long term outlook, but sometimes they focus too much on the next quarter. Share price will respond to EPS, dividend increases, relative competitive advantages, financial stability of a company, and of course long term prospects of the business plan.
If your CEO and get fired over the next few quarters because you were too long term focused then you lose as well.