Cynics Might Dismiss ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ as Mere ‘Public Relations’, but They Are Wrong. ‘Discuss’
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- Date Submitted: 03/19/2011 05:18 AM
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Cynics might dismiss ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ as mere ‘public relations’, but they are wrong. ‘Discuss’
According to Wikipedia, corporate social responsibility is defined as a form of
corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model, whereby business
takes responsibility for the impact which its activities make on the
environment, consumers, employees, local community, stakeholders and all
other sectors of the public sphere.
From researching the various aspects of corporate social responsibility, I am
torn between weather it is right for a firm to engage in this practice or if it
would be serving society better by having the sole objective of generating
profits and letting the government worry about the social costs of business
activity.
While I agree with Milton Friedman that the primary responsibility of a
corporate executive is to the individuals who own the corporation, I also feel
that it is simply not enough for the government to be the only group of
people expected to carry out the functions needed for a society to flourish. I
don’t completely agree with Friedman when he says that social responsibilities
are the responsibilities of individuals and not of business because it is
ultimately large corporations which are responsible for the destruction of the
environment and the employment of millions of people around the world.
Without socially aware business leaders (e.g. Andrew Carnegie and Henry
Ford) many people would be living in extremely harsh and difficult
circumstances because in some countries governments have failed to take
any responsibility from a social point of view, and as a result the existence
of...
According to Wikipedia, corporate social responsibility is defined as a form of
corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model, whereby business
takes responsibility for the impact which its activities make on the
environment, consumers, employees, local community, stakeholders and all
other sectors of the public sphere.
From researching the various aspects of corporate social responsibility, I am
torn between weather it is right for a firm to engage in this practice or if it
would be serving society better by having the sole objective of generating
profits and letting the government worry about the social costs of business
activity.
While I agree with Milton Friedman that the primary responsibility of a
corporate executive is to the individuals who own the corporation, I also feel
that it is simply not enough for the government to be the only group of
people expected to carry out the functions needed for a society to flourish. I
don’t completely agree with Friedman when he says that social responsibilities
are the responsibilities of individuals and not of business because it is
ultimately large corporations which are responsible for the destruction of the
environment and the employment of millions of people around the world.
Without socially aware business leaders (e.g. Andrew Carnegie and Henry
Ford) many people would be living in extremely harsh and difficult
circumstances because in some countries governments have failed to take
any responsibility from a social point of view, and as a result the existence
of...