THE STRIDE RITE CORPORATION

The Stride Rite Corporation over the 20-year period from 1971 through 1991 built a reputation as a socially responsible corporation (Stone, 1992, pp. 94-104). Stride Rite, therefore, was in the vanguard of corporate social responsibility in the United States. The first specific question addressed in this case analysis is the deservedness of the company's reputation as a socially responsible organization. A business organization is "an artificial and legal creation that provides a benefit to society," and which through societal permission to exist creates benefits for its stockholders (Luthans, Hodgetts, & Thompson, 1990, p. 3). When society permits a business organization to be formed, it also permits the organization to gain access to and to use specific societal resources. Most certainly, society as a whole expects to gain from the existence of the business organization; however, in return for

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poused by company leaders. Behaving in a socially responsible manner does not demand that a company go broke in the process. The costs of operation in New England reached a point where the company could no longer remain competitive and retain all shoe production in that region. One of the socially responsible actions taken by the company was a program that facilitated the acquisition of company stock by company employees. Allowing those investment to drop in value as the company failed certainly would not have been socially responsible. The company's community-oriented programs was more than window-dressing. Some of those programs continued because outsourcing allowed the company to remain profitable in the face of intensified competition. Carroll (1991, p. 63) noted that the question is not whether business organizations have a social responsibility as much as it is what such responsibilities are and how far they extend. The fifth specific question addressed in this case analysis asked if giving a person a job is the most socially responsible action a firm can take. This question is simplistic, because one may say that the Mafia provides employment; however, few would hold the operations of that organization to be social
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