Business Ethics: Corporate Social Responsibility JENNIFER LOMBARDO: For many years, corporations were only concerned about making money. That was the ultimate goal. Now companies are also concerned about society's welfare. Corporate social responsibility is a business's concern for society's welfare. This means that marketing managers are interested in long term corporate interests and also society's health. A new philosophical trend in social responsibility is called sustainability. It is the thought that if a company helps society through their business as a main goal, then they will reap success. Companies can look to solve society's problems by creating a product or service to fulfill a need, and they will profit and help the world. Other examples of products made by companies that embrace this philosophy would be makeup creams made from ingredients that are imported from developing companies to help their country's growth. Another example would be ice cream maker Ben and Jerry's, who pride themselves in supporting charities. Ben and Jerry's has been donating a full 7.5% of pre-tax profits to different charitable institutions. Sustainability is forward thinking, revolves around creating new products that in the long run will create improvement over time in society's ills. A current example would be a backpack designed with solar panels to charge electronic devices or 100% biodegradable recycled cardboard coffins. Another way that companies can embrace social responsibility is through were a different approach called stakeholder theory. This theory's central focus is that social responsibility is really giving attention to every stakeholder in the entire company, whether it be the employees, customers, owners, suppliers, management, or the community. The following is how each stakeholder would view social responsibility from their company. It is a more widespread approach and far reaching. Employees want to have a good, secure job and excellent wages while management wants happy workers and profits. Customers expect excellent customer service and high quality products while the community wants a corporation to pay their taxes, offer their citizens good wages, and help support the environment by not polluting. Suppliers want their business to remain plentiful, and owners, of course, want a financial return for an excellent profit. The most common reason against social responsibility is that critics feel the main purpose of a corporation is just to make a profit for their stakeholders. Nonprofits should be the only institutions concerned about society, not a for-profit business. Critics state that for most companies to participate in a socially responsible way, they need to spend more of their firm's money and in the end are costing their shareholders a profit. For example, if a company is going to import ingredients from a developing nation instead of using a well-known source, then the added cost of--