Ethical Analysis of Corporate Responsibility

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Business Ethics

Short Essay #1

After reading Friedman’s article about the social responsibility of business, I could agree on nearly all his points except for the statement “the doctrine of social responsibility is frequently a cloak for actions that are justified on other grounds rather than a reason for those actions.” Friedman, P.54 This statement seeks to claim that the social actions and donations that the corporations are making are not as true hearted as they seem, rather they focus on the “long run interest” of the corporation. I disagree and believe that there is such a thing as good for the sake of good in the corporate world.

        This summer, I interned at Weyerhaeuser and they did three things that stood out to me as truly good charitable acts that had no other intended outcome than to help others through corporate contributions and employee volunteer hours. On a regular basis, employees in the corporate office were presented with monthly opportunities to spend the day volunteering for local charities. Weyerhaeuser also has made two separate donations while I was there, a donation of 80 acres of land to a school district and a $250,000 donation to provide Hurricane Harvey relief. I believe these actions were rooted in doing the right thing with long term interest.

        When I was called up to volunteer with the company, I got to spend an entire paid day of work, volunteering at the Recovery Café in Seattle preparing meals for the needy. Volunteering at work is a rewarding change of pace for the company staff and an integral part of the company’s culture. At the end of the day, everything about the Executive's decisions to host these volunteer days is rooted in good, based on the Ethics.org decision making model.  This opportunity can truly be defined as good for the sake of good. Friedman argues that there is a long run interest involved with social charity and outreach, but in this instance money and productivity is being sacrificed for the sake of making the community a better place. I was particularly impressed that the Weyerhaeuser corporation does not promote or advertise externally the amount of volunteering that they support.  The adage "integrity is when you do the right thing when no one is looking" applies here. If the company benefits in anyway, it is the positive reactions that they employees have towards this program.

        Another instance of non-profit related corporate actions can be seen in the company’s recent donation of 80 acres of prime timber land. The donation was made to help a school relocate out of a tsunami area. When the school was struggling to find a solution and very short on funding, Weyerhaeuser stepped in and donated their land for the school district to build on. This is unlike any charitable contribution that Friedman mentions in his writing. What I see as an outcome from this is a loss in Weyerhaeuser assets from a pure numbers perspective. Following any ethical decision-making model, I think Weyerhaeuser made the right decision. They had no obligation and sought no public gain from this event.  They made local news headlines for a day but nothing more. They are using their company’s portfolio of assets to help the communities in which they operate. Friedman would have trouble trying to counter why this is an effort based in profit or financial gain as it directly goes against the needs of the company.