Business Ethics: Social Responsibility - A Detailed Article Response

This essay presents a student's response to two articles concerning business ethics and social responsibility. The first article by Friedman (2007) argues that the primary social responsibility of a business is to increase its profits, viewing social responsibility as a vague and potentially detrimental concept. The response highlights Friedman's concern that corporate executives may exhibit shortsightedness in addressing social issues, particularly in areas like wages and price controls. The second article by Garriga and Melé (2004) offers a classification of major corporate social responsibility (CSR) theories, emphasizing the ethical values, social demands, political performance, and profits associated with CSR. The essay concludes by noting the article's suggestion for a new theory that integrates these dimensions to improve the relationship between businesses and society, focusing on long-term benefits, responsible power utilization, and ethical contributions to society.

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS - ARTICLE RESPONSE
BUSINESS ETHICS - ARTICLE RESPONSE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Article 1...............................................................................................................................2
Article 2...............................................................................................................................2
References............................................................................................................................4

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Article 1
Friedman (2007) in his article entitled “The social responsibility of business is to increase
its profits” argues that the social responsibility of the business organizations is a vague concept
in itself. This is due to the artificiality in the identity of the business organizations. The author in
this case aims to discuss the fact that the major understanding on the areas wherein the social
responsibility of the business might be applicable. The authors also tend to discuss the
implications of the social responsibilities of the business organization as well as entities both
individual and the business organizations. The author in this article aims to discuss the social
responsibility as maintained by the various corporate executives as well as the individual
proprietors who have been involved in the business operations.
The article aims to shed some light on the effectiveness of the article on the basis of the
social responsibility that is demonstrated by the concerned individuals in the improvement of the
performance of the concerned business organization. The author claims that the corporate
executives as well as the individual proprietors involved in the business organizations tend to
implement the shortsightedness in the various matters that are related to the effects of the given
businesses on the surrounding social lives. The author further states that the corporate executives
as well as the individual proprietors are observed to be especially shortsighted in the matters that
are connected to the wages and the price controls. They are also seen to have been shortsighted
in the implementation of the policies and the other financial controls.
Article 2
The article entitled “Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping the territory” by
Garriga and Melé (2004), on the other hand, attempts a classification of the major theories in the

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field of the corporate social responsibility. The article aims to discuss the fact that the
presentation of the four dimensions bear a relation to the ethical values within the organization,
the social demands that are to be met by the organization, the political performances that are
observed in the areas wherein the company has been operating and the profits that are earned by
the concerned company. The authors of the article, after reviewing the findings of the study, state
that a new theory needs to be developed in order to integrate the four different dimensions that
have been discussed earlier. The theory might help in the development of the relationship among
the society and the business organization.
The article in discussion states that the major focus of the CSR theories lie in the
production of the long-term benefits through the implementation of the objectives as set by the
concerned business organization. The CSR theories also aim to utilize the power of the
businesses in a responsible manner as well as integrate the social theories within the concerned
business organizations. The CSR theories further aim to discuss the contribution of the business
organization towards the society through the performance of the ethical activities within the
concern. The article rightfully suggests the formulation of a proper theory in order to overcome
the various limitation that are observed within the present theory.

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References
Friedman, M., 2007. The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. In Corporate
ethics and corporate governance (pp. 173-178). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Garriga, E. and Melé, D., 2004. Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping the
territory. Journal of business ethics, 53(1-2), pp.51-71.