Corporate Social Responsabilities

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Recommended: Different views in relation to corporate social responsibility

“Businesses who use company resources to benefit employees and the community [over and above] that of simply paying wages and taxes are violating their moral obligations to maximise profits for shareholders.” (PHI2043F Essay Topic) The aforementioned statement is one of many responses resulting from the discussion of what corporate social responsibility (in the realm of academics) is. Corporate social responsibility (in the realm of academics) is defined as “the discussion about the moral obligations of a business” (PHI2403F Week 3 Slides, 2014) and it introduces the theory of “how business should weigh the interests of its shareholders against the interests of other stakeholders.” through three differing models; The Narrowest View, Shareholder Primacy (also known as the moral minimum model) and The Stakeholder Model. Shareholder primacy is a concept whereby stakeholder interests are taken into consideration; however, the shareholders have the top priority over all stakeholders. According to shareholder primacy a business will only act in stakeholders’ interests if it has a legal obligation to do so. The above statement is an adaptation of how business executives may act in a way that violates ‘shareholder primacy’. I disagree with the statement made as I feel that in fact businesses have a moral obligation to serve all stakeholders and not just maximise profit for shareholders. I will be enhancing this position through introducing the models relevant to corporate social responsibility, and by; discussing, evaluating and refuting the two strongest arguments that support the moral minimum model and finally evaluating two arguments that are in favour of the stakeholder model. My position will then be further enhanced by attempting t...

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...es. I have done just that by refuting the two strongest arguments for Shareholder Primacy, by evaluating the two strongest arguments for the stakeholder model and rebutting any counter-arguments to them. The stakeholder model also allows for larger long term profits and potentially answers the discussion for corporate social responsibility in the academic realm.

Works Cited

Bowie, Norman, 1991, ‘New directions in corporate social responsibility – moral pluralism and reciprocity’, Business Horizonz, July-August.

Davies, Keith, 1975, ‘Five Propositions for Social Responsibility’, Business Horizons 18, 3, p.20

Business Ethics Slides (PHI2043F), Week 3, 2014.

Sternberg, Elaine, 2000, Just Business: Business Ethics in Action, Oxford University Press, p. 41

Winfield, J, 2014. Chapter Six:The moral obligations of business, “Business Ethics Reader”.

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