A socially responsible business must act in a manner which is desirabl...
CONCEPT OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Social responsibility of business refers to its obligation to take those decisions and perform those actions which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society. The assumption of social responsibilities by business enterprises implies that they respect the aspirations of society and would try their best to contribute to the achievement of these aspirations along with their profit interests. This idea is in contrast to the common notion that business exists only for maximising profits for its owners and it is irrelevant to talk of public good. It follows that a responsible business, and indeed any responsible member of society, must act with due concern for the effects on the lives of other people.
In this sense, social responsibility is broader than legal responsibility of business. Legal responsibility may be fulfilled by mere compliance with the law. Social responsibility is more than that. It is a firm’s recognition of social obligations even though not covered by law, along with the obligations laid down by law. In other words, social responsibility involves an element of voluntary action on the part of business people for the benefit of society.
NEED FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
What is the right thing to do when it comes to social responsibility? Should a business enterprise be run for the benefit of its owners who may desire to get as much profit as is possible or else, it needs to be responsible for serving the interest of other sections of society such as customers, employees, suppliers, government and community? The very concept of social responsibility implies that it is essentially an ethical issue, since it involves the question of what is morally right or wrong in relation to the firm’s responsibilities. Social responsibility also has an element of voluntary action on the part of the business person who may feel free to perform or not to perform such responsibilities. They may also exercise their freedom for deciding the extent to which they would like to serve various sections of society. In fact, all business people do not feel equally responsible towards society. There has been a debate, for some time now whether business should assume social responsibilities or not. Some people strongly believe that a firm’s only social.