The Social Responsibility of Business

Just what is social responsibility? Social responsibility is best defined by a brief examination of the topics of the day. We as Americans and as citizens of the world find ourselves occupied with preservation of the ecology, with the equality of all persons, and with the employment and care of all peoples and persons. These grand concerns are reflected on smaller bases as well. Hence, the local river's pollution will affect the sympathies of a small town. That pollution is symptomatic of and contributory to pollution on a global scale. It may well be caused by a factory located there in the town which employs many of the citizens of the town and is vital to the town's prosperity both in that it pays revenue and provides employment. It is also dependent on the town to provide workers and some market, perhaps, for its product. It is in the bes

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cials is to "make as much for their stockholders as possible." Humble finds that to reduce one's profitability is to be in some sense irresponsible. It is the function of business in society to be both productive and profitable. Humble encourages an enlightened self-interest with "socially desirable business actions in areas such as urban redevelopment, equal opportunity advancement, anti-pollution methods and so on, provided they contribute to the profitability of the business." It would be impossible for a corporation, especially for a large one, to have, as one force, a unified social conscience and morality. Certainly, it an only be made up of the collective conscience of its leaders. (On a smaller scale, this might appear to be a more unified policy, as the management staff might be as small as one person.) Certainly a company may desire to aid the society of which it is a part. But it is most likely that a large company will not have so strong and unified a drive to act in one particular direction. It will be more likely to respond to the demands of the society around it. These might well be expressed in strikes, boycotts, press coverage and discussion, or the like. Today's society is a particularly aware one
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Approximate Word count = 1814
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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