Social Responsibilities of business in a Free-enterprise system

Résumé du document

Ethics appeared during the Antiquity with the Greek philosophers. Aristotle declared "all human activity aim at some good, and the good which is chosen for its own sake rather than as means to an end is the highest good". During the Age of Enlightenment, ethics was considered as an apology of the reason, because she allowed dominating the nature. Ethics is thus grounded on the appropriate values for each, which evolved over time until reach the business market and companies.
Since the Brundtland report (1987) then the conference of Rio (1992), companies are more confronted with the awareness of a society turned toward environmental and social considerations, the respect for the nature and the human rights with the responsibilities of each with regard to the future generations, and henceforth have to integrate them into their strategies, and by the same, in search of profits. This new "business model" is called "Corporate Social Responsibility".

Extraits

[...] This one can be seen as a shape of strategic investment. The attitudes of consumption has changed, a growing request turns henceforth on ecologically, socially and ethically sound products and services (Reto Rinnger, 2001). The potential consumers printed by a raising awareness face for example to the environmental problems will be brought to choose a company benefiting from a good image rather than the other one and to invest in companies they appreciate. Indeed, what consumers know about a company can influence their reactions to the company's products (Brown, 1997). [...]

[...] A., The Constitution of Liberty, University of Chicago Press Jensen M. C. ‘Value maximization and the corporate objective function'. Breaking the Code of Change, Beer M. et Nohria N Mintzberg The case for Corporate Social Responsibility. Porter, M.E. "Towards a Dynamic Theory of Strategy'' Strategic Management Journal (Winter Special Issue), pp. 95- Reto Rinnger, Sustainability and Socially Responsible Investments, Sustainable Business Investor- Europe, Spring 2001. [...]

[...] Social Responsibilities of business in a Free-enterprise system INTRODUCTION Ethics appeared during the Antiquity with the Greek philosophers. Aristotle declared human activity aim at some good, and the good which is chosen for its own sake rather than as means to an end is the highest good”. During the Age of Enlightenment, ethics was considered as an apology of the reason, because she allowed dominating the nature. Ethics is thus grounded on the appropriate values for each, which evolved over time until reach the business market and companies. [...]

[...] So, Klaus Schwab, director of the World Economic Forum in the forum of Davos in 2010, underlines that "The ultimate purpose for a company is not the profit, it is to contribute to the common good”. REFERENCES Milton Friedman, The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profit, The New York Times Magazine, September Elaine Sternberg, Just Business, Little Brown Samuel Brittan, How economics is linked to ethics, Financial Times september 1993. David Henderson, Misguided Virtue: False Notions of Social Corporate Social Responsibility, New Zealand Business Roundtable, June 2001. Neil Chamberlain, Social Strategy & Corporate Structure, Trade paperback september 2007. Williamson O. "Calculativeness, Trust, and Economic Organization", Journal of Law and Economics Hayek F. [...]

[...] CONCLUSION CSR aroused these last year's an important debate in the world of business and the sentence of Friedman " The Social Responsibility is to increase its profits " was very controversial. On the one hand, there are the anti CSR which stipulates that it's not the role of the company to settle social problems, and that certain authorities, as the government is legally better placed to do it; and on the other hand, the pros CSR which, besides advancing the necessary social aspect of the business, demonstrates that CSR leads directly or indirectly to new possibilities of profits. [...]