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For Better or for Worse: Corporate Responsibility Beyond "Do No Harm"
Journal
Business Ethics Quarterly
ISSN
1052-150X
ISSN-Digital
2153-3326
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2010-04
Author(s)
Abstract
Do corporations have a duty to promote just institutions? Agreeing with Hsieh's recent contribution, this article argues that they do. However, contrary to Hsieh, it holds that such a claim cannot be advanced convincingly only by reference to the negative duty to do no harm. Instead, such a duly necessarily must be grounded in positive obligation. In the search of a foundation for a positive duty for corporations to further just institutions, Stephen Kobrin's notion of "private political authority" offers a promising connecting point. Political authority implies political responsibility; Political obligation, however, includes more than merely not doing any harm it is essentially positive obligation. The implications of the new political responsibilities of multinational corporations may even go far beyond the particular duty to promote just institutions; they may be symptomatic for a much more profound shift from an individual to a collective age.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Society for Business Ethics
Publisher place
Chicago, Ill.
Volume
20
Number
2
Start page
275
End page
283
Pages
9
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
187965