Corporate Governance and Business Ethics

Milton Friedman is often quoted as claiming that the only business of business is profit: “There is one and only one social responsibility of business–to use its resources to engage in activities designed to increase its profits.” What is often left off is the rest of his statement: “. . . so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.” Even Friedman thought that freewheeling free enterprise at the service of the bottom line was an impossible effort without abiding by the commonly accepted cultural rules of what is legal and ethical in practice. Photo Credit: Ian Kelsall

Content from this campaign

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Benefit Corporation Governance is a Best Practice for Sustainability Leaders
Sustainability performance is critical for 21stCentury businesses. Employees and customers throughout the supply chain demand it. Investors do as well, and with good reason—one recent survey that looks at 200 academic studies found that 88% of sources found that “robust sustainable practices . . . translate into cash flows.” However, full integration of “robust sustainable practices” may require a governance change to endure over time, especially in the context of the public markets.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Talkback Submission Call: “Corporate Governance and Business Ethics”
At a recent CSR Investing Summit sponsored by S-Network Global Indexes, there was a strong focus on the “G” pillar of ESG—(environmental, social, and governance)—issues. Keynote Speaker Kevin Parker, CEO of Sustainable Insight Capital Management, said that his investment decision-making begins with governance. He looks for “good” governance by boards, management, and related stakeholders as the bottom line for what makes a “good” company. He and other speakers and panelists described ethics—fair practices—as key to defining “good” governance. Simply put, a good company is one that has good governance—and that’s a good investment opportunity.
3BL CSRwire logo

More from CSRwire

  1. Education for a Sustainable Future
    The value of education for an increasingly complex future is becoming more vital than ever. From STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)...

  2. Corporate Governance and Business Ethics
    Milton Friedman is often quoted as claiming that the only business of business is profit: “There is one and only one social responsibility of business...

  3. CSR / Sustainability Communications and Reporting
    It’s our goal at CSRwire to light a fire through original content and facilitate social media engagement to shine a spotlight on how we could more...

  4. Supply Chain Sustainability
    CSRwire Talkback Series invites leaders of today and tomorrow to share challenges, learning, opinion and stories of success with our wide community of...

  5. Water: Scarcity and Solutions
    The impact of availability of clean water to society cannot be understated. The growing pressure to better manage this increasingly scarce resource is...

  6. Sustainable Finance on CSRwire
    CSRwire shines the spotlight on the convergence of sustainability and finance including, green bonds, carbon pricing, impact investing, integrated...