CSR - The Classic Milton Friedman Clip

Students researching the issues surrounding corporate social responsibility need to understand and be able to articulate the counter argument to CSR - namely that firms primary responsibility is to shareholders not to stakeholders or society at large.  The most famous proponent of this “shareholder perspective” was Milton Friedman whose seminal work was published almost 40 years ago. In “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits”, Friedman argued that business leaders “had no responsibilities other than to maximise profits for the shareholders”.  It will be interesting to see how many well-prepared students refer to Friedman in their AQA BUSS4 essays.  For colleagues who would like to show students the man in question, here is a famous video clip where Friedman argues his case for the profit motive…

The video will play below.  Wikipedia has a detailed profile of Friedman here

Rising to the top of the milk [22 May 2012]
Revision Presentation - Measuring and Increasing Profit [17 May 2012]
Revision Presentation - Calculating and Measuring Profit [13 May 2012]
Shareholders join the Pressure Groups as Banks Feel the Heat from Stakeholders [27 Apr 2012]
Vodafone and Cable and Wireless Worldwide [25 Apr 2012]
A detailed look inside Apple’s Foxconn factory [24 Apr 2012]
Vodafone takes over Cable and Wireless Worldwide [23 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Mission, Aims, Objectives and Stakeholders [7 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Business Ethics [7 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Corporate Social Responsibility [6 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Business and the Environment [6 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Corporate Planning and Strategy [4 Apr 2012]
Business legislation, Sunday trading, stakeholders and the Olympics [18 Mar 2012]
CSR - Tesco leads firms having second thoughts about unpaid work experience scheme [22 Feb 2012]
Video starter - Inside the iPad factory [21 Feb 2012]
BUSS4 - Bullet point 5 the impact on stakeholders [17 Feb 2012]
Buying-in to the Facebook culture [5 Feb 2012]
Glenstrata - Glencore proposes merger with Xstrata [3 Feb 2012]
Leadership - Tough decisions to turn Starbucks around [29 Jan 2012]
Strategic choice: What should Apple do for its investors? [29 Jan 2012]
Still more praise for the “John Lewis model” [17 Jan 2012]
Revision Presentation - Corporate and Functional Objectives [29 Dec 2011]
CSR - Growing public support for responsible capitalism [28 Dec 2011]
Is this CSR Champion Acting Like Scrooge? [11 Dec 2011]
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Gerald Ratner [27 Nov 2011]
International operations decisions - Adidas trainers for $1? [26 Nov 2011]
Stakeholders argue over executive pay [23 Nov 2011]
Cut price cup cake deal goes wrong…... [22 Nov 2011]
Olympus Epic Fail [9 Nov 2011]
Unilever hit by rising costs [6 Nov 2011]
Banana Smoothies & Interest Rates [5 Nov 2011]
Car Wars - VW v Greenpeace [17 Oct 2011]
Profits dive and put pressure on liquidity - the Distress Monitor [29 Sep 2011]
Lesson activity - the Dyson Debate [29 Sep 2011]
Stakeholders gripped by the bad news coming from BAE Systems [28 Sep 2011]
CSR - 40 Years of Upsetting Big Business [15 Sep 2011]
Revision Presentation - Risks and Rewards to Enterprise [7 Sep 2011]
Revision Presentation - Adding Value [7 Sep 2011]
Revision Presentation - Objectives of New Businesses [6 Sep 2011]
The puzzle of rising profits [5 Sep 2011]
Skype CEO on Aims, Growth, Risks and Motivation [4 Sep 2011]
Fresh Examples of Creating Shared Value [24 Aug 2011]
The Case for Transformation [29 Jul 2011]
New study shows CSR pays dividends [11 Jul 2011]
Shareholder revolt over executive pay at Burberry [7 Jul 2011]
Focus on customers, not shareholders for long-term success [21 Jun 2011]
CSR - £20m extra annual profit for M&S from Plan A [18 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 6 [18 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 5 [18 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 4 [18 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 3 [18 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 2 [17 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 1 [17 Jun 2011]
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Or who guards the guardians? Primark and The BBC. [16 Jun 2011]
CSR & Strategy - Why the Cooperative Group changed to survive [16 Jun 2011]
CSR - Evidence of Failure to “Walk the Talk” when it comes to Carbon? [15 Jun 2011]
CSR - Should Apple Pay More for its Geniuses? [14 Jun 2011]
CSR - Greenpeace takes on Barbie by recruiting Ken [13 Jun 2011]
CSR - The Top UK Businesses for CSR in 2011 [13 Jun 2011]
CSR - The Business Case For CSR - Superb Data for BUSS4 [13 Jun 2011]
Shareholder power at Tesco [31 May 2011]
Crisis? What Crisis? [31 May 2011]
CSR - Is it time for McDonalds to ditch Big Ron? [22 May 2011]
CSR - Puma first to publish environmental impact costs [16 May 2011]
CSR - Has Social Responsibility Failed? Insights from Dame Anita Roddick [12 May 2011]
CSR - Chocolate the Bitter Truth [12 May 2011]
CSR - Can better social responsibility boost the UK economy by £17bn? [12 May 2011]
CSR - Can we trust CSR claims or is it greenwash? [12 May 2011]
CSR in 3D [12 May 2011]
CSR - Sustainable Fish Needs a Packaging Boost [5 May 2011]
CSR - The PPI Scandal - so much for being socially responsible [5 May 2011]
CSR and Business Legislation - The Bribery Act comes to town [5 May 2011]
Does reform of corporate governance only mean ticking a list of boxes [5 May 2011]
CSR - Evidence on the Greenhouse Gases of the top 300 European Firms [26 Apr 2011]
Private firms that grow big! [26 Apr 2011]
CSR - Picture Quiz [22 Apr 2011]
CSR - A responsible company from day one? [21 Apr 2011]
CSR - Apple: Big Profits but Dirty Data? [21 Apr 2011]
CSR - Evidence that Sustainability Works as a Business Strategy [19 Apr 2011]
Stakeholders - Every Little Helps [2 Apr 2011]
CSR - Ikea’s Never Ending List… [25 Mar 2011]
CSR - Adidas restate’s its CSR objectives [25 Mar 2011]
CSR - Sport and Business Rediscover the CSR Buzz [25 Mar 2011]
CSR - Visioning the Future (Great Lesson Videos) [23 Mar 2011]
CSR - Corn: A Matter of Life or Death? [23 Mar 2011]
CSR - Responsible Jeans?  Its a Blast… [22 Mar 2011]
AQA BUSS4 Toolkit on CSR now available [15 Mar 2011]
CSR - Insights from the Leader of the Revolution [14 Mar 2011]
CSR in the Ad Break - Dettol [14 Mar 2011]
CSR - Meet ISO 26000 - the new standard for social responsibility [13 Mar 2011]
CSR - The Case Against CSR [12 Mar 2011]
CSR - All Change at BP: New Era, New Responsibilities [12 Mar 2011]
CSR - Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan [11 Mar 2011]
CSR - An Interview with Paul Polman (Unilever) [11 Mar 2011]
Partners in profit - the JLP way [10 Mar 2011]
CSR - Greenwashing & Carbon: Consumers Just “Don’t Believe It”! [10 Mar 2011]
CSR - Awesome Research Data on the Issue of Corporate Trust [6 Mar 2011]
CSR - Is Social Responsibility Vital for Business Survival? [6 Mar 2011]
CSR - How Transparent are the World’s Oil Companies? [6 Mar 2011]
CSR - How Companies Avoid Paying Tax [6 Mar 2011]

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