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Bus 351 Research Paper
Social Contract Between Business & Society in the U.S. by Luther Wilson

Position Paper
9/02/2014

Luther Wilson

Bus 351 – Business, Society and Government
Assignment – Position Paper

The assignment that I chose was: Research and discuss the concept of the social contract between business and society in the U.S. First I had to research what a social contract consisted of. After looking at various companies ideals of social contracts, I came to the conclusion that there is a clear expectation that businesses have an obligation to improve society’s status. The overall consensus is that businesses should have their employee’s interests at heart without having to break any rules of justice in society. Bottom line: as long as the agreements between society and businesses are ethical, their relationship will remain civil. While researching my topic, I read an excerpt from Purity Makandi’s article: “Social Contact Theories in Business”. (The Corporate Contract: Actual or Fictional?) He stated that: “84% of corporate executives believe that society expects businesses to take a more active role …show more content…
Renowned author Milton Friedman stated that: “The business of business is business”. He believes that society’s interests are in direct contrast to corporate management’s ideologies. In an attempt to promote their own causes and still enlist the support of society, organizations have implemented Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This concept proves to be a disillusioned attempt by companies that claim to already be practicing CSR, to satisfy campaign groups that insist that they need to do more to mitigate their social issues. As other countries in the world, especially Continental and Central Europe are moving toward the Anglo-Saxon shareholder value model; many debates arise and prove to have global
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