Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Stockholder Theory
Milton Friedman : The Purpose of Business is to make money for the owner or stockholders.
Argument 1
The Social Responsibility of Business is to increase its profits The Underlying Ethical principle: Manager has Fiduciary Responsibility to Owners
Argument 2
Businesses cannot have responsibility, because only people can have responsibilities.
Argument 3
Executive has obligation to stockholders a corporate executive is an employee of the owners of the business. He has a direct responsibility to his employers. That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible
Ethical Caveat:
while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom. Manager has obligation to Law Ethical Custom
Agent to Stockholders
He must act as an agent of the stockholders, not society in general. But if he does this, he is in effect imposing taxes on the one hand, and deciding how the tax proceeds shall be spent, on the other.
Argument 4
No way for Executive to know how to solve social illsthats not his expertise!
Argument 5
Majority speaks through the law. Dont undermine or circumvent democracy by imposing ones views on other peoples money-use via subversive private tax
PR or Charity?
If Companies give money to good causes because it gives them good Public Relations, then count it as advertising and dont pretend it is done for the sake of charity. The Windowdressing/cloak of social-responsibility is a lie and a sham which undermines free society.
Arrow responds to the case against social responsibility, which is based on the assumption that the firms should aim simply to maximize their profits.
Friedmans Assumption #1
Freidman thinks firms ought to maximize their profits (they have social obligation to do so) Because profit really represents the net contribution that the firm makes to the social good and the profits should therefore be made as large as possible.
Friedmans Assumption #2
Freidman also assumes natural constraints of the market will help keep companies in check. I.E., if a company is known to be dishonest or terrible to their employees, then consumers will not buy from that company!
The basic idea is that businesses, and the executives who manage them, actually do and should create value for customers, suppliers, employees, communities, and financiers (or shareholders). And, that we need to pay careful attention to how these relationships are managed and how value gets created for these stakeholders.
2. Integration Thesis
Most business decisions, or sentences about business have some ethical content, or implicit ethical view. Most ethical decisions, or sentences about ethics have some business content or implicit view about business.
3. Responsibility Principle
Most people, most of the time, want to, actually do, and should accept responsibility for the effects of their actions on others.