Business ethics and compliance

There are many theories regarding business ethics. The textbook outlines Friedman’s view that businesses only social responsibility is to maximise profits. There are other theorists who, unlike Friedman believe that legal requirements are a minimum rather than a maximum level of corporate responsibility. And that corporations have social obligations not only to their stakeholders but also to the community.

It can be argued that companies have a number of legal and other obligations to non shareholders or stakeholders such as employees, clients or customers, and the community as a whole. There is growing acceptance of the view that organisations can create value by better managing natural, human, social and other forms of capital. Individual ethics. Most people are raised to be ethical.