Final answer:
The statement is true; businesses during the Industrial Revolution focused heavily on profits for shareholders, often at the expense of workers and other stakeholders. Calls for reforms eventually led to more worker protections and the development of stakeholder theory.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that during the Industrial Revolution and the post-industrial era, businesses primarily aimed to maximize profits for shareholders with little concern for outside stakeholders is true. Historically, the rise of capitalism during the Industrial Revolution led to the emergence of large corporations focused on profitability, which often involved neglecting the interests of workers and other stakeholders.
Early classical economists like Adam Smith supported a laissez-faire approach to business, advocating for minimal governmental interference. It wasn't until later, through the collective efforts of political activists and workers, alongside critiques from philosophers like Marx and Engels, that reforms began to protect workers and consider their needs.
In contrast to the shareholder primacy viewpoint, the stakeholder theory emerged, advocating for balancing the interests of all those involved with a company, not just the shareholders. This paradigm shift towards stakeholder theory and increased regulation, such as laws for worker safety (e.g., OSHA standards in the US), is a departure from the profit-centric approach of earlier eras.