Business vs. the Environment Essay

Many firms are learning that being environmentally friendly and sustainable has numerous benefits. (O.C Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). This could enable them to increase goodwill from various stakeholders and also save money in the long term. This will mean that they are being more efficient and less wasteful of resources, which will enable them to be more competitive by satisfying stakeholders. The CEO of

What Friedman implies is that shareholders should only be concerned with maximizing profits and not be obligated to be “socially responsible.” In that case, the manager would only have one priority, to maximize profits. However, what if that manager determined that social endeavors is the best option to maximize profits? This would make the corporation socially responsible while still maintaining maximum profits. The argument presented by Friedman in this case is that while the manager is performing as expected by maximizing profits, this type of “social responsibility is frequently a cloak for actions that are justified on other grounds rather than a reason for those actions.”

Many believe that business entities should have an ethical duty to be socially responsible, to work towards increasing its positive effects on society while decreasing its negative effects. Many organizations look for opportunities to be socially responsible while also creating shareholder wealth.

P5 - Describe how John Lewis would be influenced by economic factors in a time of economic recession and economic growth in the UK economy

Milton Friedman argues that persons may choose to undertake social responsibilities to their communities, churches, or nations, and devote their own incomes to causes that they deem morally worthy. But, he adds, if corporate executives attempt to take such social responsibilities or to direct the corporation’s profits to such personal causes, without approval from the shareholders, then:

In this report I am going to investigate into Reigate College and evaluate into the business how different stakeholders in the organisation have an impact on the college all together. Evaluating which of the stakeholders has the most power and those who have the least power and impact on the college, also what roles they play towards the college and as individuals what impact they have on the different stakeholders within the college itself. Reigate College is a College based in Reigate with its aims and objectives is to provide a high quality education for 16-19 year old students in a

In Friedman’s article, The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profit, he gives two arguments for what, if any, social responsibilities a business has and why they have it. In his arguments, he presents a businessman in charge of running the business on behalf of the owner. The first point he raises in dictating what responsibilities the businessman should fulfill involves defining the businessman’s purpose. He was hired as an agent of the shareholders, the owners of the business, etc. to make the business profitable. Barring some eleemosynary functions, as Friedman states, such as hospitals and schools, the general purpose of a business is to make money, therefore, the responsibilities of an agent of the business would be to increase said profits. To do otherwise would be to fulfill a purpose other than the one he was hired for and betray the owners.

In 1970, Milton Friedman published an essay in which he argued that corporations’ only social responsibility ought to be making a profit for its shareholders as long as it is engaged in open and free competition without deception or fraud (Brusseau, 2012. page. 676). Moreover, Mr. Friedman also argued that only people can have social responsibilities because they control their actions and corporations don’t. However, we see that corporations are engaged in businesses such as making loans, signing contracts, acquiring licenses, creating jobs and services. They act as persons. If corporations had no responsibilities people would not invest in them; for that reason, I believe corporations should have legal and ethical responsibilities.

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The prevalent view of business’ social responsibility is Milton Friedman’s agent-owner theory. His thesis mainly says that“ There is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage

What is the responsibility of a business or corporation? Is it to meet stakeholder expectations and follow legal guidelines, or is there a higher responsibility? While Milton Friedman asserted in his famous essay that “the social responsibility of a business is to increase profits,” it can be argued that companies also have higher moral responsibilities. The question in each ethical dilemma is, “To whom do we have a moral responsibility?”

Milton Friedman wrote in his famous 1970’s article in The New York Times Magazine, that “the one and only social responsibility of business, is to increase profits for shareholders.” Milton Friedman's view on business responsibility accentuates the importance of maximizing firm's value. He pointed that the “there is one and only one social responsibility of business –to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engaged in open and free completion without deception or fraud’’ and by taking on the burden of social cost, the business becomes less efficient (Milton Friedman, 1962).

Some critics argue that corporations are fundamental entities responsible for generating a product and service to gain profits to satisfy shareholders. Milton Friedman and others argue that there is no place for social responsibility as a business function. These critics point to the rule of corporate law that prohibits a corporation’s directors from any activity that would reduce profits.

Milton Friedman in his 1970 article titled” The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits”, argues that the main purpose of the corporation is to maximize profit for shareholders (or stockholders) as long as it is in the confines of the law. He is of the view that a business is not an individual and has no moral responsibility, therefore only the employees have a moral responsibility for the actions of the firm. The managers are viewed as agents of stockholders and have a moral obligation to manage the firm in the interest of the stockholders. It is seen as illegitimate if the shareholder money is used to contribute to charity, however if public financing is needed it is the government’s responsibly to raise such through taxation

As a manager of a fine dining restaurant in an inner city suburb, I notice that there is an increase in the number of people enquiring about food items featured on the menu. Some are vegetarian; some ask where and how the food is produced, whilst others are celiac or show a high level of concern over the ingredients used in each dish, due to allergies. As a result, there will be a growing trend towards consuming foods based on informed choice.