Open AccessCorporate responsibility and the idea of the firm
Author(s) -
Laurence Cranmer
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
corporate governance and organizational behavior review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2521-1889
pISSN - 2521-1870
DOI - 10.22495/cgobr_v1_i1_p2
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , appeal , order (exchange) , corporate social responsibility , business , core (optical fiber) , corporate governance , stakeholder , law and economics , public relations , accounting , economics , political science , finance , law , computer science , telecommunications , biochemistry , chemistry
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.