Corporations as social contractors : a study on corporate social responsibility

Abstract

This thesis takes up the issue of the role of business in today s society, in the form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The research question is: Do corporations/does business have responsibilities beyond maximising profit for owners? Social contract theory, as presented by Hobbes and Locke, is used to morally justify a corporate responsibility that goes beyond the traditional business responsibility of maximising profit for stolckholders. Further, the stakeholder model is proscribed as the proper management principle to implement these wider corporate responsibilities. Finally, human rights are introduced and analysed as one specific corporate responsibility.