Do corporations have any moral responsibility?

[coberst]

Do corporations have any moral responsibility?

The Chinese police state is a great investment says US hedge funds.

The US economy may be on decline but US hedge funds investors considers the Chinese police state to be a good investment for our global economy.

“China’s Hot Stock: Orwell Inc” is the headlines over an article in the NYTimes published September 19, 2007.

“In a stunning report in the New York Times last week, correspondent Keith Bradsher documented the rise of China's electronic surveillance industry, whose leading companies have incorporated themselves in the United States and obtained the lion's share of their capital from U.S. hedge funds. Though ostensibly private, these companies are a for-profit adjunct of the Chinese government.”

Do US corporations have any moral responsibility to the citizens of the US?

Do US corporations have any moral responsibility to the people living on this planet?

[Buffy]

Well they should, and they actually used to, but the strong belief in lassez faire, overreading of Adam Smith and intense competition from international markets where there is no tradition of morality has lowered the requirement of morality from shareholders to "just don't get caught."

While I think shareholders ought to be able to see the *economic benefit* of corporations acting morally, the immorality of the shareholders themselves--and not really the corporations--are what drives immoral acts on the part of those corporations.

Unfortunately, there is no way to regulate the shareholders, but it is possible for governments to regulate corporations, and--although it is much more difficult--to seek international agreements to create similar regulations in other countries.

I'm all for giving business "freedom to innovate" but I counter-argue that "no regulation" is tantamount to anarchy. No regulation is exactly equivalent to no laws, and unfortunately, its pretty clear that societies where there is no prohibition against theft or murder--making the assumption that people are moral--simply don't work.

Trust but regulate,
Buffy

[coberst]

It seems to me that when a corporation does its business only within a nation the citizens will keep them from egregious foul behavior but when they become international all bets are off. An example is discrimination. Globalization sets corporations free like they never have been.

[Michaelangelica]

Corporations are unfortunately amoral
Their only function to make their CEO and shareholders richer.
BUT
there is a movement to make them more moral. Many are adopting a "code of ethics"
eg
Amcor Leading Through Innovation
also
shareholders are sometimes forcing change. eg major shareholders of Dow are forcing them to settle the Union Carbide disasater in India. It helps that many are very big shareholders like the fireman's super fund etc
HERE
is an interesting Australian site
ethics articles: corporate governance - st james ethics centre ... imagine a more ethical world
Info on many aspects of this (a big topic!)
e.g.,

Corporate governance

Ethics-related articles in this subject area are:

* Accountability in the boardroom
* Applied corporate governance: the purpose of a company: two competing conceptions
* Board self-appraisal
* Business ethics: an essential ingredient in corporate governance
* Can corporate culture determine criminal responsibility?
* Compliance and accountability
* Corporate governance principlescorporations and the criminal code
* Ethics and corporate governance - some guidelines for directors
* Ethics and corporate performance
* Ethics and private equity - the Qantas bid
* Ethics and shareholders
* Evaluation of directors
* Excess baggage: responsibilities of directors
* Moving beyond the rhetoric of corporate governance: Where does ethics fit into the scheme of things?
* No conflict of duty in Westfield's vote
* Relationships, behaviours and interactions of people in corporate governance
* Some thoughts on the role of the internal auditor
* The ethical dimension of corporate governance
* The ethical view on corporate governance
* The role of directors in the development of a corporate ethos
* The role of the corporate manager in the performance evaluation of boards
* Three rival versions of human nature: and examination of the foundations for corporate governance
* Virtue and corporate guillotine
* What if people are basically good?

& some other local links

Broadcast: 13/8/2001
Energy giant challenges corporate ethics
Now to the third of our Big Ideas forums. Can multinational corporations rehabilitate their image despite the growing backlash against globalisation? Margot O'Neill outlines the battles under way for the corporate conscience.

---------
Compere: Tony Jones
Reporter: Margo O'Neill

MARGOT O'NEILL: The scandals are many.

Multinationals behaving badly in every corner of the globe, some of the worst offenders -- oil companies.

So it will surprise some that one energy giant is now trying trying to present a completely new clean image.

That's exactly what British Petroleum is doing.

Lateline - 13/8/2001: Energy giant challenges corporate ethics . Australian Broadcasting Corp



See also the hypography thread on Corporate Ethics
http://hypography.com/forums/social-...tml#post189908

[coberst]

Michael

Thanks for that very enlightening bit of info!