Authors: Francesca Romana Arduino, Alessandro Zattoni
Abstract:
In recent years, the business and financial community has devoted an increasing attention to environmental and social issues, so reinvigorating the long-standing debate – started in the ‘70s with CSR – about the role of corporations in society and their primary goal (purpose or profit). The traditional and dominant view – clearly expressed by Milton Friedman in 1970 in his famous New York Times article – emphasizes that the responsibility of managers is to conduct the business in accordance with shareholders’ expectations, “which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society”. On the other side, the purpose perspective underlines that companies should generate long-term value for all stakeholders, including also the debtholders, employees, customers, suppliers, and the society. Putting differently, this view states that companies’ responsibilities go beyond maximizing financial returns for shareholders and include economic, social and environmental goals (the so-called triple bottom line). Pressures to encourage companies to embrace this new approach come from various sources.
