Social Responsibility

Overview:

Social responsibility means that individuals and companies have a duty to act in the best interests of their environments and society. Milton Friedman, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, argued that businesses should focus on increased profits to best fulfill their social responsibilities to society. Howard Shultz argued that profit is essential to a business’s well-being and continued existence, but profit should not entirely define the business’s purpose. In the book Pour Your Hearth Into It, Shultz describes how Starbucks forfeited a $5 million savings each year by not switching to polystyrene cups because the cups were impractical to recycle.

Directions:

Please respond to all the following items in your initial post by Sunday. In addition, engage with your classmates by making comments and/or asking questions that build upon your peer’s posts.

• Beyond making a profit, what responsibilities do businesses have toward society in general?
• How would you justify Starbucks decision to not save money in the case of the polystyrene cups?
• In your opinion, what percentage of an organization’s efforts (time, money, manpower, etc.) should be used toward developing socially responsible policies and practices? Explain.