The global economy refers to the increased mobility of goods, services, labor, technology, and capital throughout the world. Globalization is not a new development, but the increasing speed of the process in the wake of technological innovation is new and it is disturbing to many people. Corporate social responsibility refers to (a) the extent to which a corporate entity behaves in a responsible way or to (b) the way the behavior of a corporate entity is perceived in its external environment within the context of social responsibility. In the view of this writer, the three greatest challenges to pursing corporate social responsibility in a global economy are as follows:
The development and global agreement on a definition of intellectual property and how it's legitimacy can be can be established (this challenge goes far beyond the creation of an entertainment film or a software application to include efforts by chemical corporations to patent seeds of plants that have been cultivated for centuries)
The firm establishment by treaty of the rights of national governments in relation to actions by corporate entities within national borders (regardless of the global character of the operations of a corporate entity)
The settlement of the rights of underlying ownership of natural resources
A business organization is an artificial and legal creation that provides a benefit to society and that, through societal permission to exist, creates benefits for its owners. When society permits the formation of a business organization, 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 this expected societal gain the owners of the business organization gain the opportunity to profit.
For many critics of the concept of a social responsibility for b
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