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Asked by Jean Horst 2 years 114 days ago.

Does business have a responsibility to look out for the community?



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Should a business try to better the community in their area or just look out for their own bottom line?

Answers to this question:
» Answer from Susan Gamsky Answer given 2 years 112 days ago.
Well, maybe like a celebrity "watches out" for their fans. The idea of businesses looking out for their community is nice and helps in a deeper way than just doing market research and "looking FOR" . In this economy it might be a tough ideal, but in the end "others" are what it's all about.

» Comment from Jean Horst Comment made 2 years 107 days ago.
No community, no business. No business, no community.

» Answer from Ravi Dev Chauhan Answer given 2 years 112 days ago.
Without responsibility in a task, the task is undone and when you are in a large or maybe small business, the customers form the major community that you have to look out for.

» Comment from Jean Horst Comment made 2 years 107 days ago.
Very true.

» Answer from Thomas Kong Answer given 2 years 111 days ago.
If 1) is community and 2) is bottomline then the answer is inevitably 2) first and then 1) and then eventually 1)+2) with an emphasis on 2). Without the bottomline the company could not exist to look out for the community.

» Comment from Jean Horst Comment made 2 years 107 days ago.
Yes, but there is more than one way to look out for the bottom line. Unscrupulous businesses will cheat to gain a fatter bottom line faster because they do not care about the long term effects of their actions.

Looking out for the long term good of the whole community may be a slower way to build the bottom line but should enrich all in the long run.

» Answer from Johnathan David Answer given 2 years 110 days ago.
Yes business does have a responsibility to look out for the community. They are a very large part of the economic climate of that community and without the people in their area they may not survive.

» Answer from Bruce Horst Answer given 2 years 110 days ago.
You mean like Citibank giving $500,000,000 to charity like they did last month?

I don't think they were really looking out for the community, but rather their own self-interests by trying to change their image. I don't think it worked.

» Comment from Jean Horst Comment made 2 years 107 days ago.
At least they tried. :)

» Answer from Ravinder Malik Answer given 2 years 107 days ago.
maybe like a celebrity "watches out" for their fans.

» Comment from Jean Horst Comment made 2 years 107 days ago.
Without fans, there is no celebrity.

» Answer from Stephen Bush Answer given 2 years 79 days ago.
   Selected as Best Answer!   
All of us should certainly hope and expect businesses to look out for the community. I personally have a "zero tolerance" policy when hearing a business is doing ANYTHING that is counter-productive for the community in which they are located. The standard of "do no harm" should be an absolute minimum goal when a business owner assesses the potential impact of a business decision on the community. At the same time, community members should hold businesses to the "do no harm" guideline. Businesses which fail to act responsibly should pay a price in terms of lost future business. A case in point is the recent movement encouraging individuals to remove their accounts from large banks such as Citigroup, Chase and Bank of America because they have acted so recklessly and irresponsibly. This particular approach also advocates that individuals place their funds in community banks which are likely to have a better sense of what is needed in each community. It should not come as a surprise to us when a business located in multiple communities fails to act responsibly in all of the locations due to unavoidable conflicts.

» Answer from Kirsty Rickett Answer given 2 years 67 days ago.
Yes definitely, but also communities have to look after their local businesses.

» Answer from dannicash Answer given 2 years 66 days ago.
It must be! A business should have the community responsibility.

» Answer from Nashib Umer Answer given 2 years 64 days ago.
Yes, in my opinion the business is the responsible to look after the social community and society

» Answer from Ronald Cheli Answer given 2 years 57 days ago.
This is a good question. Public companies have an obligation to their stockholders first and foremost and since they are looked at in a more postive fashion by everyone by being socially responsible this can greatly increase their reputation which can lead to more sales. They don't have to be socially responsible but they do so because of this. Another reason is tax benefits offered by the government to certain industries by being socially responsible. Overall, it does affect their bottom line by being socially responsible.

» Answer from Warrick Mak Answer given 2 years 56 days ago.
If we view from the principle of Micro Economics, majority of firms would focus mainly on maximizing private benefits while surviving in the perfect competition market, especially on the world development decades of capitalist economic booming. Only monopolies are capable (size) to contribute social benefits significantly.

In the recent decade, global information exchange grew rapidly. More business people are aware of many disasters like dramatic "climate change" are related to the consequence of emissions from business activities - even just for servicing the life of human beings.

Think about this question should not only be asking about the responsibility on business, but on the people who run the business as long-term. Since we keep learning about the mother principle of human beings survive together in the world should play a role to keep the community of our part in better shape, of course it should not be in the expense of others. Selfishness in solely making private benefits will certainly be ended up lose-lose ultimately, regardless of winning in short-term. That's the contemporary meaning of sustaining "competitive advantage".

» Answer from Clint Sidney Answer given 2 years 50 days ago.
definitely yes, not only business has a responsibility to community. When we talk about responsibility it narrows down to one sentence which is "Every person has a responsibility to everyone he is dealing with and to the environment he is within."

» Answer from Sandra Fierling Answer given 2 years 50 days ago.
Ultimately yes. The business benefits from more exposure to the community and the community obviousy benefits from the business. This is how to keep both the community and the business alive, active and prospering.

» Answer from William Roberts Answer given 2 years 49 days ago.
businesses should always make the community they work in a better place. the care they put in will reflect positively on them and it is an unselfish way to do business.

» Answer from Pete Godfrey Answer given 2 years 43 days ago.
You can't make money with a closed fist, so what you give is what you get. It is up to you what you do with your money... but in my experience the more I give away to the community, charities to more it comes back in abundance. But I guess it's up each person themselves.

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