1.7 Discussion and Analysis

Go to the article by Milton Friedman (http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html) and skim it. What does he mean when he says that CSR is a “tax” on stakeholders like the owners, employees, and customers? Do you agree with this argument? Would it be better to have a shareholder paradigm and let the individual stakeholders personally choose how they want to be socially responsible instead of imposing it on them with CSR?

If you were on a debate team and you had to choose one of the three dominant logics to argue is the most correct, which one would you choose: Competitor, Profit, or Customer? Why? Develop a three-point logical argument to support your position. If you were then asked to choose the logic that was the weakest to debate, which would you choose? As a manager, how would you balance the three logics for optimal performance?

Which of the five areas of CSR do you feel is the most critical (strategy, financial, customer/product, governance/stakeholder, human)? Which do you feel is the least important? How much would you as a manager be willing to lower your profits or returns to practice these five areas? How much would you be willing to lower your own paycheck?

Overall, if you were the CEO of a firm, how would you balance the shareholder and stakeholder (including CSR) paradigms? What if one of your employees complained he’d rather have a bigger paycheck than practice CSR? What if one of your customers complained she would rather have a cheaper price than pay for the firm to practice CSR?