Obligation Of Business Towards Society

The role of business in an economy is involved in any type of activity that provides goods, services, or both to consumers in an attempt to earn a profit. Business drives up the standard of living of quality and quantity of goods and services available to a population and contributing to the higher quality of life in which is overall sense of well-being experienced by either an individual or a group. Business also helps raise the standard of living through taxes. However businesses do not only provide the products and services that people acquire, but they as well provide job opportunities that people

Business organizations today are socially and ethically responsible for doing the right thing, exercising good judgment in their business activities with employees, stakeholders, customers and the community. Business organizations emphasis should not only be on profits, but also on how business decisions impact society.

Hartman, E. (2006). Can We Teach Character? An Aristotelian Answer. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5(1), 68-81

The purpose of business is commonly perceived negatively by the general public. Most people believe that businesses are started solely for the purpose of making money for its investors. However, according to Mackey (2013), “business has the potential for a higher purpose; to improve our lives and create sustainable value for all stakeholders of a business”. During the interview Mackey (2013) says that “business creates the goods and services that make our lives better”. At any rate, most people still view business as a necessary evil until more businesses adopt the conscious capitalism philosophy.

To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society. Companies must benefit all of their stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, and the communities in which they operate” (Straub,

To begin with, I want to clarify what is the role of business in society and social responsibility of the corporation. Destination of business has always been the same, to innovate and delivered products and services, to build and maintain the condition of well-being, to use resources effectively. What is different today is the social context in which companies are managing.

The notion of ethics deals with people’s behaviors within a company. Social responsibility involves a company’s moral obligations and the manner in which the organization makes its decisions. Although ethics and social responsibility are similar on a conceptual basis, each has its own unique characteristics that express their differences and its independence of the other. Ethics and social responsibility have to be present and coincide with one another for a business to be ethically sound.

2- A second key area of The Cheesecake Factory’s code of ethical conduct that is of significant importance is in Article V, in the “Compliance with Company Policies and Procedures,” section that pertains to confidential information. It is very important and essential for the success of any company and business especially, the confidentiality of information, especially for third parties, be maintained. This leads to another key area that is also in Article V of the company’s code of ethical conduct. In the section that pertains to insider trading. In the section that deals with

I do not agree with the following quote by Milton Friedman. Engaging in activities that are designed to only increase profits for a company would open doors to complications and mistakes, which is caused by the lack of customer satisfaction. The social responsibility of any business should be to take care of its customers, instead of just focusing on the amount of profit the company is making. If a company decides to just focus on making a profit, it will lose focus on providing customers with products and services that will improve their standard of living.

The topic I choose was “Does business have any social responsibility (over and above turning a profit) and if it does what should such a responsibility amount to?”. I feel as though profits are a huge part of what a business should focus on, it should not be the only thing. I learned in one of my business classes that a corporation acts as a fictitious person. It bears the responsibility of any all decisions, good and bad. The benefit of a corporation versus sole proprietorship is that the business takes on the debt, not the sole proprietor. When the corporation goes belly up, the stockholders aren’t going belly up as well. So therefore, the corporation should be socially responsible, just as a person should be.

Ethics in finance is a very important factor to consider when dealing with social implications. There are lots of unethical behaviour within finance. The main aim for most business organisations is to generate profit, if something stands in the way of this, a business may chose to use unethical practises to get around the issue.

Is the deception of consumers worth making a profit? The Ford Pinto, popular car of the 1970s, made a profit off of a vehicle that endangered the lives of hundreds of people. In his essay “Pinto Madness” Mark Dowie, author and Pulitzer Prize nominee, exposed the unethical decisions made by Ford Motor Company. When it came to their customer’s safety and profit for the company, Ford made a decision that led to consequences their customers had to pay the price for. Should the business be held accountable for these actions? In his essay “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profit” Milton Friedman, powerful economist, discusses what a business should prioritize in the economic system. Friedman declares what a business is responsible for and the guidelines they must follow. Due to Friedman’s view, he would not have condoned the actions and decisions that the executives at Ford Motor Company took.

Business plays a major role within our society. It is a creative and competitive activity that continuously contributes to the shaping of our society. By satisfying the needs and wants people cannot satisfy themselves, businesses improve the quality of life for people and create a higher standard of living.

Today the Social media requirement is not just restricted to the marketing department only. Successful and well-established businesses know this very well, and they’re in fact leveraging the social media for boosting the operations of different departments of their organizations. Usually, the first crucial step is to let your sales, HR, PR and customer service department access on the social. But only this is not enough in today’s competitive world of business. Instead, it is very important to train them with the tools that assist everyone for keeping the track of content, off-page mentions, client queries and much more.

The expression "corporate social obligation" got to be across the board in the 1960s and has remained a term utilized aimlessly by numerous to cover legitimate and moral obligation all the more barely interpreted.