Corporate Responsibility and the Idea of the Firm

An appeal to some version of corporate responsibility has become a strategic issue for business. Many companies and most global corporations make public claims about their corporate responsibilities in addition to claims about financial outcomes and success. This raises a conceptual question: to what extent, if at all, do claims about corporate responsibility have implications for the idea of the firm. This paper starts by setting out one version of the idea of the firm and its core or traditional responsibilities, and then works through a series of possible further responsibilities. Each of these further responsibilities is incorporated into the initial version in order to understand potential implications for the idea of the firm. The argument in this paper does not assume that this initial version of the idea of the firm is the only possible version. However, given this version and the further dimensions suggested, the paper considers the kinds of issues that various claims about corporate responsibility raise for the idea of the firm.