Unless by "safe" you mean "maximizing profits at all costs" I disagree.

Maximizing short term profits.

It has been established that the KPIs and bonuses of most corporate executives are tied to the quarterly returns.

From their perspective, is there an incentive to maximize long term profit?

do corporate executives not get stock options? or at least typically plan to stay at the same company for more than a few quarters?

CEOs answer to shareholders. Shareholders want returns. You want returns for your own investments and so do I.

I suppose shareholders also want to maintain ownership of the technology that makes their profits happen in the first place, right?

Wait, who am I kidding? Only a handful of shareholders decide the actions of a company, and even fewer know what the company actually does besides money-in = more-money-out. Most just want as much profit as fast as possible, hence the risks taken with China.

How much money is "enough" is the problem. Companies seem to always choose "all the money" but I'm not sure that is always wise. What's wrong with doing work you are proud of and paying your employees a fair wage? It seems to always come back to the stock price and how it always has to go up for publicly traded companies.

It most certainly is not difficult. The ethics of it are exceptionally straightforward.

Greed is at the root of your conundrum. Put that aside, and you'll see more clearly.