Business Ethics Essay Example

A business is not one that lives in isolation; it can be an integral part in a community’s success or demise and has social responsibilities to; the community, stakeholders, and anyone who may be affected by a company’s actions. Corporate social responsibility is a term that is never used lightly and is a key role in the development of a successful and morally healthy business. “The objectives of a corporation are to outperform its competitors, presumably through preferred competitive strategies” (Joseph Heath 123). There are three main models by; Freeman, Friedman and Heath discussing corporate social responsibilities and all have distinct differences between their moral obligations, and the way they perceive business should be ran in a morally ethical way. Heaths argument is there is a fiduciary relationship between the company and its stakeholders. Heath argues that one must recognize this relationship and understand that all parties including the business and the stakeholders must gain from a company’s decision. Heath discusses that a company must take into consideration their social and moral obligations when making decisions that will fill this fiduciary relationship, but must be done by using socially and lawfully accepted actions. “A corporation is an artificial person and in this sense may have artificial responsibilities, but ‘business’ as a whole cannot be said to have responsibilities” (Milton Friedman 65). Friedman argues that if a corporation is a separate identity and can be viewed as a person then it may have social responsibilities, and the corporate executive is the person that decides these responsibilities and has a direct responsibility to his employers. “There is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.” (Milton