Contrast the Entine and Jennings' Views with Those of Friedman and Freeman

Entine and Jennings’ views on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are drastically different than Friedman and Freeman’s views on CSR. Entine and Jennings viewed Corporate Social Responsibility in terms of marketing and branding of their product. Companies jump on the consumer’s urge to help protect and preserve the environment and use great marketing tactics to not only advertise the company’s product but also to promote the company’s social responsibility efforts. The company accomplishes this by having the company and its products “are associated with the labels ‘green’ and ‘socially responsible’” (Jennings, 2012, pp. 102). This gives the consumer the impression that these companies participate in campaigns to show and improve their image to the community. However, all that being said, it is important to remember that no company is without its flaws. Entine and Jennings continue by stating it is important to remember that just because a company has taken a stand on a socially responsible issue then it does not mean the consumer, employee or even the shareholder should just naturally assume and believe the company with out looking into the matter further.

Friedman however created a theory called the shareholder theory, which states that a business investing in social responsibility will increase its overall profits.  Friedman explains (2012) “only people can have responsibilities,” not companies (pp. 91). Friedman goes on to say a company can be a version of a fake person and in that sense it can have fake responsibilities but that is all. Friedman continues by stating those that are actually responsible “are businessmen, which means individual proprietors or corporate executives” (Jennings, 2012, pp. 91).  Friedman believed companies are not being socially conscience on purpose but are actually just trying to make money for the shareholders. The point of a company being socially responsible is to use all of its resources to participate in any activity that will continue to increase the company’s profits as long as the company is still abiding by the standards set by society, the law and ethical standards.

While Friedman believed in the model that the company focused on profit that would be spread throughout the shareholders. Freeman’s model focused on the company working to meet the needs of the stakeholders, which in turn, will make a profit. However, both models believed the stakeholder should be the ones who are socially responsible instead of expecting the company as a whole. Freeman felt the managers and stakeholders should have a relationship that will allow the stakeholder to have rights and privileges that, while will need to be okayed by the manager, will allow the stakeholder to feel like he or she has an important role within the company. Freeman felt that every employee, stakeholder, supplier, executive plays an integral role within the company and that each person depends upon each other to continue to make the company a success.

References

Jennings, M. (2012). Business ethics: Case studies and selected readings. 7th ed. Mason, OH South-Western Cengage Learning.

Chernev, A. & Blair, S. (2015). Doing well by doing good: The benevolent halo of corporate social responsibility. Journal of Consumer Research. 41(6), pp. 1412-1425.