Towards Corporate Social Responsibility

10.6160/2004.12.09

Fred Robins

corporate social responsibility ； corporate governance ； business ethics

中山管理評論

12卷5期（2004 / 12 / 01）

45 - 62

英文

This paper looks at corporate bankruptcies experienced in the United States during 2002. Events are summarised in sufficient detail to identify the weaknesses in corporate governance and social responsibility. Particular emphasis is put on Enron and WorldCom on account of the dramatic impact of these two collapses on American popular and political opinion. However the main focus is on those business activities which are legal but unethical rather than those which constitute fraud and are demonstrably illegal. Thereafter the paper examines the regulatory responses; notably the Sarbanes-Oxlet Act. There is also reference to the views of some informed academic observers. Then, the author attempts to itemise and categorise the various issues which scandal exposed. The author suggests the various elements of corporate governance weakness can be categorised as technical, regulatory or cultural. This leads into discussion of how best to raise standards of corporate responsibility in each of these categories. Regulatory action offers improvement in the first two categories but not in the third. The last category embraces the broad, ill-defined, ethical needs like social responsibility. Regulation are not well suited to the management of these open-ended issues and, worse, formal rules can distract managers from the real, ethical issues, by forcing them to concentrate on the requirements of technical compliance. The author attempts to think through the implications and suggests there can be no full solution to such ethical problems. These, by their nature, ultimately depend on individual honesty.

1. Brittan, Samuel(2002).FT.coM.London:
2. Chaffin,Joshua,Peter Larsen,Peter Spiegel(2002).FT.com.London:
3. Clarke, Frank,Graeme Dean(2002).Accountancy needs to tell it as it is.The Australian Financial Review,71
4. Collins, Luke(2002).'Enron finance chief charged' and 'Goldman clients got stock in hot 1oats'.The Australian Financia Review,23
5. DiPiazza,Samuel,Robert Eccles(2002).'Building Public Trust: The Future of Corporate Reporting', PricewaterhouseCoopers.
6. Economist(2002).anonymous article: 'Chief financial officers: Too creative by 50%'.The Economist,57-58.
7. Elliott, Larry,Richard Schroth(2002).Crown Business/Random House.New York:
8. Felton,Robert,Mark Watson(2002).Change across the board.The McKinsey Quarterly,31.
9. Fry, Elizabeth(2002).Business Review Weekly.Sydney:
10. Garten, Jeffrey(2002).Business Week.New York:
11. Harris, Tony(2002).The Australian Financial Review.Sydney:
12. Henry, David(2002).Business Week.New York:
13. Henry, David,Mike McNamee(2003).Business Week.New York:
14. Humphry. Richard(2003).The Australian Financial Review.Sydney:
15. Kirchgaessner, Stephanie,Joshua Chaffin,Richard Waters(2002).FT. corn.London:
16. Kohler, Alan(2002).The Australian Financial Review.Sydney:
17. Kuttner, Robert(2002).Business Week.New York:
18. Kuttner, Robert(2002).Business Week.New York:
19. Larsen, Peter,Andrew Hill(2002).WorldCom unearths new $2bn accounting fraud.London:
20. Levitt, Arthur,Paula Dwyer(2002).Business Week.New York:
21. The cure for creative accounting
22. Rovella, David(2002).Bloornberg/The Australian Financial Review.Sydney:
23. The Australian Financial Review
24. Investors call for single accounts standard
25. Time to revisit what really makes a company work
26. Spiegel, Peter(2002).Financial Tines.London:
27. Thomton, Emily,Peter Cay,Heather Timmons(2002).Business Week.New York:
28. Waming: This corporation may appear more capable than it is
29. Zellner, Wendy,Stephanie Forest,Emily Thornton,Peter Coy,Heather Timmona,Louis Lavelle,David Henry(2001).Business Week.New York: