Themes in Business Ethics

Responsibility of Business in Society

Business and society are mutually interdependent: society depends on business for wealth creation while business depends on society for an environment wherein it can meet its obligation to create wealth. It is important for management students to understand the symbiotic relationship between business and society, especially in terms of the moral dimensions placed in the hands of owners and managers.

A variety of conceptual frameworks have been developed to describe and discuss the responsibility of business in society. For example, Archie Carroll, a management professor at the University of Georgia, developed the “Pyramid of Social Responsibility” to explain the responsibility of business in society. At the foundation of the pyramid is the expectation that businesses generate employment and wealth. At the next level, businesses are also expected to abide by the law and minimize any social problems which might be created by their business operations. Finally, if business has accomplished the following objectives, society expects business to give back. Many large corporations operate foundations which are responsible for supporting health and human services, education, the arts, etc. Columns written by Archie Carroll  

Other frameworks include social impact management and triple bottom line, which have been described in a contribution by Laura Hartman and the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program.