Peter M. Gerhart
Case School of Law
| Abstract: |
In this essay, I advance our understanding on the role of business as an agent of world benefit by outlining five basic models that describe the causal mechanisms through which the goals and operations of business can be reoriented from a focus on efficiency and toward world betterment. The essay suggests, therefore, that the concept of the socially responsible business is not a unitary concept but is in fact a collection of at least five separate causal models through which the goals and operations of business can be transformed. The transformation of business from its traditional to a new role comes by modifying the incentives of various actors—sometimes business managers, sometimes investors and sometimes consumers—and it takes place by modifying our understanding of the concept of the efficient business and efficient markets. This analysis enhances our ability to evaluate and operationalize the concept of the socially responsible business by understanding the forces that are leading this change and the prerequisites that are necessary to keeping those forces in motion. |
| Author Note: |
From the perspective of law, my concern is that the literature has aggregated examples of socially responsible businesses that in fact differ. It would help me if readers would (a) look for examples that do not fit my models, (b) help me understand what other models might explain the socially responsible business, and (c) help me tie into the management (or other) literature to expand my initial evaluation of the factors that are driving change. |
| Citation: | Gerhart, P.M. 2006. Varieties of socially responsible business. Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit Interactive Working Paper Series 1(1), pp. 1-16. http://worldbenefit.case.edu/research/paperseries/?p=18. |