Milton Friedman said, "the business of business is business". He described the primary responsibility of the executive officers is to enrich the stakeholders by employing the capital in profitable ways. He further argued that the discussions on the need for social responsibility are "loose and lack the rigor".
I chose the case of Unocal (now part of Chevron) in Burma for my Ethics paper. I am struggling with this case, trying to reconcile my emotional side which believes CSR is a given vs. my business training which makes me want to agree with Friedman.
While I tend to agree with Friedman, I am siding with John Ruggie, Professor at Kennedy School of Government, that a corporation cannot be complicit with a despot and should not trample on human rights even indirectly.
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