Society in which it operates.

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Printed on: 5/9/2007

MMM 132 Group Research Assignment

Semester 1, 2004

 “Social Responsibility” refers to the degree to which an organization should be responsible for the society in which it operates, therefore the organization recognizes its “stakeholders” and acts for the good of all. Commonly defined as a “business firm’s obligation that is beyond that required by the law and economics in order to pursue long-term goals that are for the good for society.”

In order to understand social responsibility with greater detail we can compare it with two similar concepts: Social Obligation and Social Responsiveness. 

Social obligation is defined as the “obligation of a business to meet its economic and legal responsibilities”, put simply the organization must meet its economic (profit-orientated) and legal (laws governing conduct of business) needs. Examples of this are through some oil companies whereby they are under strict supervision from the government and related statutory bodies whereby they only comply with the minimum required by the law. I.e. the company pursues its social goals subject to the extent that they contribute to its economic goals. Furthermore Social responsibility adds an ethical imperative to accomplish those things that make society better and not to do those that could make it worse; simply an organization does what is right because it has an “obligation” to act that way.

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On the other hand, Social responsiveness refers to the “capacity of a firm to adapt to changing societal conditions”, whereby the organization actively seeks to better the society in which it operates, i.e. it goes beyond social obligation and social responsibility and functions in response to society’s demands.  Examples of social responsiveness are evident as the Shepparton Preserving Company (SPC) contributes to charity with its “Share a can” day, where volunteers from among employees, growers and suppliers donate a day’s work and materials to produce roughly $750,000 worth of food for the Victorian Relief Agency and Victorian Foodbank. Supporter organizations ...

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