Business in Society

The role business plays in society is to create wealth for shareholders, employees, and customers, as well as the society around them. Businesses have the responsibility to provide jobs, which allows employees the monetary freedom to purchase goods, thus stimulating the economy. Further, it is the responsibility of businesses to provide goods and services to customers in exchange for compensation. When the company is compensated, they are able to provide more jobs, as well as an enhanced version of the goods they are marketing. Finally, the role business plays in society is to provide profit to the owners. This, again, stimulates the economy and allows the company to either expand on current ideas or pursue additional avenues.

Businesses also possess a responsibility to their stakeholders. Stakeholders are the people or groups of people that have an interest in the company or are affected by how or what a company produces (“Working for sustainable.”). They can be anyone from banks, customers, the community, government leaders, and the media to suppliers, dealers, and employees (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2013). Each stakeholder has a separate interest in the company and desires to see their priorities met by the company. For example, if a company were to pursue expanding their building, which lead to the demolition of a historic park in a town, one of their stakeholders, the surrounding community, would certainly be distressed. It is also important for the business to address the stakeholders’ needs because they are in need of their support to meet objectives. In the example provided, the company would not wish to cause a disturbance with their relationship, so they may decide to pursue expansion on a different plot of land.

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...the economy, and can even benefit local communities by establishing charities and hosting neighborhood cleanups. They are paid for the services they provide, not always monetarily, but sometimes with customer loyalty. Customer’s loyalty to a brand due to their investment in their stakeholders or involvement in the community can be a significant benefit to a company who is looking to expand.

Works Cited

How Many Stakeholders Does Your Site Have?. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.seobook.com/archives/001984.shtml

Nickels, W. G., McHugh, J. M., & McHugh, S. (2013). Understanding business (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Working for sustainable development in primary industry. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/anglo-american/working-for-sustainable-development- in-primary-industry/responsibility-to-stakeholders.html#axzz31Ml6pEw1