I've been inside a not-small company that was bought by a large company that had to go public as a condition of purchase, watched the issue of share-price and dividends have their merry way with management and finally watched an even larger behemoth who had already listed purchase the remains. (Or, to put it another way, the State Bank of NSW got bought by Colonial Mutual who had to de-mutualise as part of the sale. Colonial later got bought by Australia's Commonwealth Bank who had gone public some years prior.) I left* before the last purchase was completed.

Some observations: the drive to "maximise shareholder profit" meant customer service had to take a lower priority. Colonial, fortunately, had had long years as a Mutual and shaking off a customer focus was not something done easily or quickly. The Commonwealth Bank, however, had never really embraced it and did not have a reputation for good service**. But the majority of Colonial shareholders could see they would profit by accepting the takeover deal, so they approved it. The Commonwealth Bank is a good share market performer, but a less than stellar customer service record.

Conclusion: the two are incompatible.

Wade.

* Well, actually, I was made redundant.

** The level of customer service does not actually vary greatly amongst Australian banks, but the Commonwealth was definitely amongst the worst and Colonial was always distinctly better.