Abstract
Because the two parties to a business transaction have significantly different priorities, business has been thought of in terms of confrontation. But the cooperative aspect of business association is equally important, and in many institutions, whose significance has not been recognised, predominant. The confrontational aspect, however, cannot be eliminated. Both individuals and firms may need to be subjected to a searching hard look, to see if they measure up to external standards. Nevertheless, though sometimes necessary, it is always costly, and can be counter-productive. The chief emphasis is on cooperation, especially as business becomes more concerned with ideas and less with things; and the more this is realised, the readier businessmen should be to respond to a wider range of obligations, often being able to obtain, by virtues of the resources they have at their disposal, desirable results which would not otherwise be forthcoming, and which, at least in indirect ways, benefit both the firm and its shareholders.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
G.B. Richardson, “The Organisation of Industry”, The Economic Journal, Vol 82, September 1972, pp.883–896
reprinted in G.B. Richardson, Information and Investment, Oxford, 1990; and G.B.Richardson, “Some Principles of Economic Organisation”, forthcoming, to which we are greatly indebted.
See Michael Goold, Andrew Campbell, and Marcus Alexander, Corporate-Level Strategy, Wiley, New York, 1994.
F.G. Bailey, Stratagems and Spoils, Oxford, 1969, pp.67–68.
See Francis Fukuyama, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity, London, 1995.
Tom Sorell and John Hendry, Business Ethics, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 1994, p.161.
Elaine Sternberg, Just Business, London, 1994, ch.2, quoted in ch.5, §5.2.
See, for example, Samuel Brittan, Capitalism with a Human Face, Aldershot, 1995, pp.45–46.
Pilkington, an exceptionally generous and community-minded firm gave just over 0.4% of its profits in charitable donations in 1984 (Tom Sorell and John Hendry, Business Ethics, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 1994, p.160).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1996 M. R. Griffiths and J. R. Lucas
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Griffiths, M.R., Lucas, J.R. (1996). Towards a Non-Privative View of Business. In: Ethical Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230389953_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230389953_12
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-67889-3
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-38995-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave Economics & Finance CollectionEconomics and Finance (R0)