Social Responsibilities of the Businessman

6 The Businessman's Conception of His Social Responsibilities

6 The Businessman:1s Conception of His Social Responsibilities There is no doubt of an increasing awareness on the part of businessmen that they have important obligations to society. The concept of "stewardship" is, of course, an old one, and many businessmen have been thinking in this direction. Only within the past few yea,rs,however, have large numbers of business leaders publicly acknowledged and actively preached the doctrine that they are servants of society and that management merely in the interests (narrowly defined) of stockholders is not the sole end of their duties. Indeed, discussion of the "social responsibilities of business" has become not only acceptable in leading business circles, but even fashionable. Many heads of major corporations have made eloquent and apparently sincere expressions of the obligations of business to society at large,! introducing a positive and constructive note into the social thinking of businessmen. Prior to World War II, much of their social thinking had been reflected in attacks on the New Deal and on organized labor, with strong feelings of persecution and bitter resentment against the authors of new restrictions. During the war, however, the success 1In 1946, businessmen were polled by Fortune magazine regarding their social responsibilities. The following are two of the questions asked and the replies (Fortune, March, 1946, pp. 197-98): "A few years ago it was frequently said that businessmen ought to acquire a 'social consciousness.' What was usually meant was that businessmen were responsible for the consequences of their actions in a sphere somewhat wider than that covered by their profit-and-lossstatements. Do you think that businessmen should recognize such responsibilities and do their best to fulfill them? "Yes, 93.5%; no, 1.6%; depends, 4.7%; don't know, 0.2%. "About what proportion of the businessmenyou know would you rate as having a 'social consciousness'of this sort? None, 0.4%; less than 10%, 11.8%; about a quarter, 22.2%; about a half, 29.2%; about three-quarters, 26.7%; all, 3.0%; don't know, 6.7%." 44 , THE BUSINESSMAN S CONCEPTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES 45 of American business in meeting productive requirements was so spectacular that public attitudes toward business notably changed. And with continuing postwar prosperity, businessmen regained, in large measure, the respect of the community and their own self- »: confidence. No longer have they been so deeply troubled by the persecution complex which had colored their thoughts and actions in the years before the war. Nevertheless, the experience of the 'thirties, combined with worldwide tendencies toward social control and socialization of business, has led businessmen to think deeply about the conditions which must be met if the private-enterprise system is to continue as the basic economic organization of this country. They have seen clearly that private enterprise would be accepted and could continue only if it demonstrably served society better than any alternative system. Passionately sincere in their belief that the private-enterprise system is superior to alternatives, their problem has been to consider how business should be conducted if it is to serve society well, and how to demonstrate that business does in fact serve society well. From this line of thinking emerged the new emphasis of businessmen upon their social responsibilities. In this and the following chapter, I shall summarize the verbal statements of top executives in large corporations toward their responsibilities to society. In doing so, frankly, I shall not attempt to present all of the many views held by various businessmen or to indicate the proportion of businessmen who hold any particular view. I am not offering a business opinion poll based upon a scientifically selected sample. My purpose, rather, is to describe the thinking of a large and growing group of businessmen who are '. actively and articulately concerned about their role in society. The summary is based partly upon speeches, articles, annual reports, official testimony, and many other public pronouncements in which businessmen have professed their social ideals," (The number of such documents runs into hundreds, perhaps thousands.) And it is based partly also upon numerous personal contacts with businessmen . An analysis of this kind is open to criticism on the ground that it is impossible to distinguish the propaganda, the pious declara2 A list of some of the businessmen whose published statements have been consulted is presented in Appendix B. 46 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITffiS OF TIlE BUSINESSMAN tions, and the rationalizations of businessmen from their...