Milton Friedman Business Ethics

There are two types of businessmen in this world, “Robber Barons” and “Captains of Industry”. “Robber Baron” is a idiom established during the United States Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. It is used to describe demeaning businessman that are wealthy industrialist, those who monopolize companies, and use unfair practices within their businesses. On the other hand “Captains of Industry” are positive businessman that contribute to the nation. For instance they provide jobs, increase productivity, expand the markets, and increase trade. Some even make generous philanthropies to the people who are less fortunate. Although it is good to be a “Captain of Industry”, Rockefeller and Walton were both degrading “Robber Barons”. From this moment forward

In fact, “by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain” (CR 88) wanting to maximize his profit while minimizing his costs. So, instead of increasing the wages of their workers, they would instead keep their wages low and keep the money they earned. The owner wants an “industry that produces the greatest value” (CR 88) which would lead one to infer that they just should not give the workers a salary. However, although the company owners “neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it” (CR 88) because of the need to raise the wages of workers. The industry owners end up being “led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention” (CR 88) which pushes the owners to increase the wages of factory workers to allow them to be able to purchase more products, thus further supporting industries. So, although industry owners can restrict the wages given to the workers, it would only hinder society because they are limiting the amount of money that is in circulation, so the owners are forced to give the employers an increased

The purpose of this essay is to argue whether "economics is a friend or a foe of ethics". A concept discussed by Norman Bowie, A.K Gavai and Milton Friedman. Before moving into further detail, what is economics and ethics all about? According to the dictionary, "economics is the science that deals with the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services or the material welfare of human kind." Whereas ethics are the "values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions". (Gavai 2009, 14)

During the industrial revolution, leaders of industrialism were brilliant, innovated, and ambitious men who rejuvenated the American economy decades after the Civil War. Andrew Carnegie is one of these industrial leaders who had a positive impact on society. He is considered to be a true “captain of industry” (Shi, "Robber Barons") , not just because of the businesses he developed, but because of his desire to better society for all people and not just for himself (Shi, "Robber Barons"). Carnegie believed that those of mass wealth should make a moral choice to make it their responsibility to share their wealth for the utilitarianism of society.

In this situation I would not want to shut down any of my community based organizations. Knowing that the closure would lead to loss of jobs and affect the community as a whole. For starters I would look over our budget to see if there where any areas that I could possibly cut cost or do without. Going by a budget can also help you minimize risk for future obstacles. By eliminating unnecessary cost hopefully will increase funding so that layoffs will not be my only option. Other options that I would consider is cutting hours during the slow hours of the day.

Social responsibility of business has been a debated topic for years. The ideas of different businessmen have had effects on the direction of business in this period. This essay analyses two texts, which have Milton Friedman’s arguments about social responsibility of business and John Friedman’s ideas about Milton Friedman’s, by comparison and contrast method and includes this writer’s evaluation.

“It’s Good Business,” by Robert Solomon presents the concept of ethics within the business world, and argues against greed and amoral thinking, as being inherent in business. This paper will address seven questions presented by Shaw and Barry (2016) using Solomon’s reading as a backdrop to explore how and why ethical errors occur within business; whether the “myth of amoral business” exists; and, whether unethical behavior hurts business as a whole

Davis (as cited by Khalidah, Zulkufly, & Lau, 2014) defined Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as “… the firm’s consideration of, and response to, issues beyond the narrow economic, technical, and legal requirements of the firm. It is the firm’s obligation to evaluate in its decision-making processes the effects of its decisions on the external social system in a manner that will accomplish social benefits along with the traditional economic gains, which the firm seeks. It means that social responsibility begins where the law ends. A firm is not being socially responsible if it merely complies with the minimum requirements of the law, because this is what any good citizen would do.” A firm will not survive without the support of both the stakeholders and shareholders, thus the CSR proposes the indication which stats that a firm can never exist In a vacuum (Khalidah et.

If you were Monsanto’s CEO, how would you best balance the conflicting needs of the variety of stakeholder groups that Monsanto must successfully engage?

Business of the organization is affected by many factors. There are some internal and external factors influencing the business. There are many internal and external factors affecting the business environment. Internal factors are related to the SWOT analysis whereas the PESTLE analysis is used to measure the external factors affecting the business. These factors includes

It is the firm’s obligation to evaluate in its decision-making processes the effects of its decisions on the external social system in a manner that will accomplish social benefits along with the traditional economic gains, which the firm seeks. It means that social responsibility begins where the law ends. A firm is not being socially responsible if it merely complies with the minimum requirements of the law, because this is what any good citizen would do.” A firm will not survive without the support of both the stakeholders and shareholders, thus the CSR proposes the indication which states that a firm can never exist In a vacuum (Khalidah et. al.).

Corporate social responsibility means that businesses have wider responsibilities than simply to their shareholders – they also have responsibilities towards other stakeholders, as well as the environment. Scholars such as Robert Solomon believe that businesses should take on these responsibilities, as they have a duty to behave ethically. Solomon believed that a person should follow their own personal values and attempt to stay ethical no matter whether they are at home or at work. Others, such as Milton Friedman and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, argue against the idea of corporate social responsibility, believing that the only responsibility of a business is to increase its profits for its shareholders. Friedman went on to argue that for a business to take money from their profits to fund corporate social responsibility projects is equivalent to stealing money from shareholders and is therefore unethical. From a utilitarian perspective, the ‘greater good’ may be believed to be the greatest amount of profit, potentially leading to a ruthless attempt to maximise income. This could come in the form of using cheap labour to be able to create maximum profit for the shareholders – and, furthermore, could end up blatantly disregarding human rights. This is a major issue of utilitarianism – basing ethical decisions on goodness for the greatest number of people allows for a

Patagonia is a very popular clothing company that provides high quality wear designed for people that enjoy being outdoors. The provide good quality warm clothing such as jackets and flees for reasonable prices. Not only do they provide a great product, but they also make it their aim to make a positive impact by contributing to the industry and by also creating high standards and values which is something that popular brands should always do. Profitability for a company is linked to their ethical standards because it builds a reputation for the brand. It has been found that many investors determine if a company should be invested in by also looking at their social impact. We will not be exploring how Patagonia has left its mark on society.

Milton Friedman revolutionized free market thinking. He believed in a free market as the best solution for the stability of an economy. Basing his theories on Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”, Friedman further developed Smith’s theory. In short, Friedman’s Neoliberalism can be described through one of his quotes on the social responsibility of business, “There is one and only one social responsibility of business — to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits, so long as it stays within the rules of the game” (Cooney, 2012). Friedman’s belief of the market’s perfection is based on the assumption that no actor would agree to a transaction if they did not find it fitting for themselves (Friedman, 1975). In other

Business is an economic activity whereas its concern is continuously and constantly producing and distributing goods and services to market in order to provide and satisfy human needs, wants and demand.