Argue for or against Friedman’s statement that “corporate of

Friedman says that a business is only responsible to it’s shareholders, and it’s prime concern is to make as much profit for them as possible. He is not totally unscrupulous though, he does recognize the need to play by the rules, however he makes it clear that companies should only do things that turn a profit, and therefore no charitable venture should be entered into. Fundamentally, I think Friedman is right, companies are there to make money, but I think it is short sighted to think that there is no greater responsibility. With the advent of the Internet, greater communications, twenty-four hour news channels and the general shrinking of the world, people’s knowledge of the world around them is that much greater. People are taking an interest in more social and global issues, and thus, companies have to be more responsive to a

Larger companies, in particular, need to be aware of the scrutiny that they are under. These companies hold great power. ExxonMobil, the oil company, for example, turned in profits of $17.7billion in 2000, which was greater than the GDP of Angola ($5.9billion), Burundi ($0.7billion) and Democratic Republic of Congo ($7.0billion) put together. (Carbonnier, Dec 2001) It has been very easy for these big companies, to take advantage of the lack of legislation and government intervention in these less fortunate countries, but more recently they are beginning to be made accountable for their actions. Recently, Royal Dutch/Shell were embarrassed by revelations of their treatment of people in Nigeria (Mullins, 2002) The United Nations and government organizations have begun to build partnerships with large companies to help combat human rights issues. Closer to home, we have seen the scandal that surrounded the miss-selling of pensions by big name insurance companies, shattering the trust in these companies, allowing for new companies to enter the market with greater success.

Ignorance is no longer an excuse. Environmental issues are common discussion points both in the news and in parliament. Numerous action groups provide reams of leaflets. Corporate responsibility isn’t just a “buzz word”, it’s here to stay, and companies have to view this as a threat and do something

Some topics in this essay:
Worthington Britton, Harris Jr, United Nations, Fundamentally Friedman, According Friedman, Carbonnier Dec, , Royal Dutch/Shell, GDP Angola, Republic Congo, mullins 2002, accountable actions, companies money, set business, corporate responsibility, environmental issues,