The Business Sector

Abstract

As the business sector must retain a reasonable degree of autonomy from the state sector to operate effectively, the political action of citizens must go beyond influencing state activities, and secure a tangible input into the activities of business organizations as well. The educative, productive and protective aspects of communitarian citizenship need to be supported by businesses, not just in terms of their compliance with legislation, but also in terms of how they interact with the people whose lives could be radically changed as a resuit of their decisions. Active citizens have led the way in exposing the harm that corporate irresponsibility can bring to the communities in which businesses operate. There are products which harm people but for various reasons are not banned by law. It could be diffïcult to pinpoint the criteria upon which legislation could be drawn up, but the harm could easily outweigh any benefits the product concerned might offer. There are shifts in market focus which leave those with the least income no affordable option to purchase – variations in insurance premiums which hit those in the poorest areas being just one of many examples. There are businesses which subject their employees to excessive stress and other health risks when they are expanding, and to constant fear of redundancy when they are facing strong competition. Businesses also, directly and indirectly through the products they produce, deplete the non-renewable resources of the world and add to the pollution of the environment (Donaldson and Werhane, 1983; De George, 1993).