A Quote by Robert Reich

As to the meaning of "corporate social responsibility," Friedman and I would agree: If a certain action improves the corporation's bottom line, there's no point in labeling it "socially responsible." It's just good business.

Robert Reich

Quote Topics

Action Agree Bottom Bottom Line Business Certain Corporate Corporate Social Responsibility Corporation Good Good Business Just Labeling Line Meaning Meaning Of No Point Point Responsibility Responsible Social Social Responsibility Socially Would

Quote Author

Robert Reich
American - Economist
Born: June 24, 1946

In the early 1970s, Milton Friedman argued that corporations should not be socially responsible because they had no mandate to be; they existed to make money, not to be charitable institutions. But in the economy of the 21st century, corporations cannot be socially responsible, if social responsibility is understood to mean sacrificing profits for the sake of some perceived social good. That's because competition has become so much more intense.

Robert Reich

It's not just about checking the box on corporate social responsibility. It's about hitting our bottom line.

Peggy Johnson

We need government and business to work together for the benefit of everyone. It should no longer be just about typical "corporate social responsibility" where the "responsibility" bit is usually the realm of a small team buried in a basement office - now it should be about every single person in a business taking responsibility to make a difference in everything they do, at work and in their personal lives.

Richard Branson

In the final analysis, finding a way to do clean business and not to pay bribes actually improves your bottom line.

Mo Ibrahim

Filmmaking is a business and at the bottom line people who don't make fiscally responsible decisions end up going into another line of work.

Gale Anne Hurd

Film-making is a business and at the bottom line people who don't make fiscally responsible decisions end up going into another line of work.

Gale Anne Hurd

Corporate Social Responsibility is a hard-edged business decision. Not because it is a nice thing to do or because people are forcing us to do it because it is good for our business

Niall FitzGerald

We need an honest bottom line. Today that bottom line is vastly subsidized. If anyone of us were paying the full cost of oil our bottom lines would be very different. If you internalize the cost of oil, look at the cost of the war in the Middle East or the cost of global warming for future generations, if you internalize those external costs and what you pay, that bottom line would look very different, what ever business you are in.

Ray Anderson

If an artist is driven primarily by social responsibility, I think the art probably suffers because, again, just as leadership has a rather defined end point or purpose, social responsibility would seem to have a very clear moral context.

Billy Collins

The ultimate cause of the October Crisis was the ideological embrace of Milton Friedman's warped but still dominant view that "the only social responsibility of business is to make a profit for its shareholders," and until that socially and economically counterproductive - and empirically, legally and ethically inaccurate - view is corrected, we will continue to have the increasing and more intense crises of global capitalism that we have seen recur with ever greater frequency over the past forty years. Sadly but clearly, the lessons have still not been learned.

Chip Pitts

I've always said that the better off you are, the more responsibility you have for helping others. Just as I think it's important to run companies well, with a close eye to the bottom line, I think you have to use your entrepreneurial experience to make corporate philanthropy effective.

Carlos Slim

Conducting your business in a socially responsible way is good business. It means that you can attract better employees and that customers will know what you stand for and like you for it

M. Anthony Burns

Ben and I built Ben & Jerry’s on the idea that business has a responsibility to the community and environment If you open up the mind, the opportunity to address both profits and social conditions are limitless. It’s a process of innovation If we were going to have a business we were going to have one that was consistent with our values We measured our success not just by how much money we made, but by how much we contributed to the community. It was a two-part bottom line.

Jerry Greenfield

...in place of the Old Bottom Line of money and power, a New Bottom Line of Love and Generosity is possible. People of all faiths need to shape a political and social movement that reaffirms the most generous, peace-oriented, social justice-committed, and loving truths of the spiritual heritage of the human race.

Michael Lerner

The fortunes amassed through corporate organization are now so large, and vest such power in those that wield them, as to make it a matter of necessity to give to the sovereign - that is, to the Government, which represents the people as a whole - some effective power of supervision over their corporate use. In order to insure a healthy social and industrial life, every big corporation should be held responsible by, and be accountable to, some sovereign strong enough to control its conduct.