In Milton Friedman’s “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits”, Friedman concludes that it’s the duty of a business and its corporate executives to pursue legal profits by any means for their shareholders over social welfare. Currently, in the US, there are many incidents of businesses doing exactly that, in ways that would cause many to disagree with Friedman’s conclusion; however, I still agree. One of Friedman’s points is that if a
business is doing something legally against the will of its society, then it is up to that society to change the laws democratically. It stands to reason, then that it is not the duty of a corporation to change its business practices to better society, but the people’s duty to democratically
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One of the more fascinating discussions at the upcoming #Risk conference focuses on Milton Friedman’s famous comment: “The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.”  One of the more fascinating discussions at the upcoming #Risk conference focuses on Milton Friedman’s famous comment: “The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.” Milton Friedman might have been one of the most influential economists of the 20th Century, but in the pantheon of the greatest of all time, even he would have had to bow his head to Adam Smith. In 1776 Adam Smith wrote: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” That was from the Wealth of Nations, the paper which arguably spawned the theory behind capitalism. Smith talked about the invisible hand — how the markets know best; how individuals acting in their own selfish interests serve a greater good. The fictitious Gordon Gekko said: “Greed is good,” — actually, he said: “Greed, for want of a better word, is good.” He was paraphrasing Smith’s famous idea. It’s nature — Darwinian selection, survival of the fittest. But if the above is true, if the law of the jungle is about greed and selfishness, riddle me this. Why will a vampire bat throw up its ‘dinner’ in order to provide healthy nourishment for some unfortunate bat that was hungry? → #RISK is where the whole ‘risk’ community comes together to meet, debate, and learn, to break down silos and improve decision-making. Five content hubs with insightful sessions, case studies, networking, high level thought leadership presentations and panel discussions. FIND OUT MORE & REGISTER FOR FREE And if Adam Smith is all about the invisible hand, about the benefits of being selfish, why did he also say this? “How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.” That was from Smith’s other great work, “The History of moral sentiments.” And if Darwinism is about the survival of the fittest, why was that phrase missing from the first four editions of The Origin of Species, and why did Darwin prefer the phrase: “Natural Selection?” And why did he also write? “When two tribes of primaeval men, living in the same country, came into competition, if the one tribe included…a greater number of courageous, sympathetic, and faithful members, who were always ready to warn each other of danger, to aid and defend each other, this tribe would, without doubt, succeed best and conquer the other… A tribe possessing the above qualities in a high degree would spread and be victorious over other tribes, but in the course of time, it would, judging from all past history, be in its turn overcome by some other and still more highly endowed tribe. Thus, the social and moral qualities would tend slowly to advance and be diffused throughout the world.” - Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, 1875.104 Milton Friedman is famous as a free market advocate, that if capitalism is left alone to its own devices, it will create the best outcomes. He said: “The social responsibility of business is to increase profits.” And yet, later in life, Friedman appeared to change his mind somewhat and in a House of Commons Select Committee, appeared to contradict the Thatcherite idea of cutting spending during a recession. Thatcherism was described as a great Friedman experiment, “the Friedmanite guinea pig,” as Galbraith described it, yet Friedman distanced himself from aspects of Thatcherism. The answer to the riddleThe riddle has an answer, but it is not one that, in the era of social media, is very popular. The answer is nuance. Actually, the vampire bat that was apparently kindly throwing up the meal that it had gone to so much trouble to catch was, in a nuanced way, being selfish. Darwin might have argued that morality could become hardwired — but the idea was, in fact, consistent with the concept of survival of the fittest. This is the example I like. I believe my dog loves me. It is not cupboard love; it is genuine unconditional love. Evolution, obeying the rules of survival of the fittest, works in mysterious ways. It hardwired into dogs this genuine tendency to love their humans because it serves their survival, the interests of the selfish genes that make them up, to do so. The dog itself is unaware of this underlying selfishness, but it is there all the same — it is a form of cupboard love, but it is evolution that loves the cupboard; the dog remains, as it were, in the closet. And that takes us back to Friedman and Smith Is it the social responsibility of business to increase its profits? Answer: yes, but with nuance. If companies look at their business and observe that chasing net zero adds costs without adding benefits, then why go down the net zero route? At one level, the answer might be because regulators may force them to, or customers may demand it, or would be employees might insist upon it, so best to start preparing. At that level, net zero is consistent with increasing profits. But there is another level — what I call the Tit for Tat level — which introduces nuance. If all companies ignore net zero and go hell for leather on short-term profits, polluting like it is going out of fashion, climate change will create such a disaster that we will all be worse off, and business will make less profit But if companies do focus on net zero — and most other companies do the same, then the end result will be increased profits. It then becomes partly a matter of faith — doing the right thing because if everyone does the right thing, everyone becomes better off. But for such a policy to work, the transgressors must be punished — maybe by excluding them from the supply chain, or maybe that is where regulators step in — a kind of police force ensuring that freeloaders who ignore net zero and get the benefits without the costs are punished. So that is my take on Friedman’s comment. On November 17th, at #Risk at the ExCeL Centre London, Professor Paul Watchman, Paul Clements-Hunt, Jay Mukhey and others will be discussing this fascinating topic. Don’t miss Professor Paul Watchman, Paul Clements-Hunt, Jay Mukhey and others speaking at #RISK London in the session: “”. The session sits within a two-day agenda of insight and guidance at #RISK London, Europe’s leading risk-focussed expo, taking place on November 16 and 17 at ExCeL London. The event unites thought leaders and subject matter experts for a deep-dive into organisational approaches to handling risk. Content is delivered through five content hubs, each featuring insightful sessions, case studies, networking, high-level thought leadership presentations and panel discussions. → Session: “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits”: Was Milton Friedman Right? → Time: 15:05 – 15:50 GMT → Date: Thursday 17 November 2022 → Venue: ExCeL London “Risk is now everyone’s business” #RISK London is also available on-demand for global viewing. CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR PLACE AT #RISK LONDON Is the social responsibility of business to increase profits?A company's responsibility is not to sacrifice profits by donating them to charity, but to create profits only through creating value for society. The “only” highlights how its primary duty is to solve social problems, not to create profits—but if it succeeds in the former, it will be profitable.
When was the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits published?On September 13, 1970, when Friedman published his landmark piece, “The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits,” in the New York Times, he wrote: In a free-enterprise, private-property system, a corporate executive is an employee of the owners of the business.
What are the social responsibilities of a business?Corporate social responsibility is traditionally broken into four categories: environmental, philanthropic, ethical, and economic responsibility.. Environmental Responsibility. ... . Ethical Responsibility. ... . Philanthropic Responsibility. ... . Economic Responsibility.. WHO said that only one social responsibility of business is to increase profits?You might disagree with Milton Friedman's famous claim that the sole social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. But you can't deny that it sounds simple and straightforward.
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