Essay 1 –The Responsibility of Business – Stockholders or Stakeholders – Has Business Become More Socially Conscious? Should It Be?
A fundamental question when exploring the role of business/marketing in society Is whether the responsibility of business and its managers when making decisions is to its Stockholders (owners) or its Stakeholders (everybody and things that could be affected).
Essay 1 Topic – The Responsibility of Business, Social Contract and Principled Firms. I have provided some links below and we will discuss the issue in class. A topic day.
You will also find a trove of material on Oaks under Essay 1.
A quick search will turn up a lot more. Your essay should be referenced and should cite appropriate ethical models.
You must be aware that more recently this has become a divisive issue with the argument that firms should not make social responsibility under its many headings part of a firm’s activities.
An excellent essay will not be limited to the narrations below but include some of your own additional references and ideas.
3 or 4 pages about 1000 words – take a position with a thesis statement to begin.
Milton Friedman argued that the logical basis for decision-making is to increase the stockholder’s financial return. In contrast, others have argued that business has a fundamental responsibility to all its stakeholders. Despite the controversy, the stockholder view has been the prevailing and directing maximum for the past five decades. Freidman provides a “simple” model for management behavior – but one that is widely criticized. The Stakeholder model is obviously more in keeping with the ethical concept of “Principled” management but is inherently difficult to implement as the stakeholder groups have differing goals. Take a position.
Essay – From the Syllabus
1. Individual Essays and Reflections: Papers must be grammatically correct and show a knowledge of and synthesis of the course material. Essays should be between 750 and 1000 words. They have the following format:
1. Thesis – Issue and statement of position
2. Evidence supporting your position including as appropriate:
1. The ethical theories most appropriate to apply to this issue and why?
2. What are the ethical or moral issues at stake in this issue?
3. Who are the stakeholders?
4. What is the relevant ethics literature on this topic?
5. What possible courses of action are available?
6. What are the predictable effects of each action?
7. Which set of possible outcomes is relatively better?
A number of references are provided by the course schedule and Oaks. You must use these as appropriate. An A grade requires significant personal research on the topic beyond that presented by the course.
3. A summary of your position and solution to the issue.