I think shareholder expectations determine what a company does. If the company is a growth company, shareholders will gladly allow the company to innovate, but if it's a blue chip, they will expect dividends.

Right, but there are important, large companies that are neither of these things. A privately-held company can act as a pseudo-nonprofit, if its management wants, investing in the benefit of humanity at the expense of both profit and growth. The possibility of shareholder lawsuits makes that much harder to do.