In their book, Archie Carroll and Ann Buchholtz (2011) discuss various concepts that are related to the legal, social, and economic challenges faced by the community. One of the concepts that the authors define is business. According to them, this term can be interpreted as the collection or set of commercially oriented and private organizations that can take many forms such as corporations or partnerships (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2011, p. 6). Additionally, the writers provide a definition of the term society; in their opinion, it is a broad group of people who have common traditions, institutions, values, interests, and collective activities (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2011, p. 6).
To a great extent, businesses can be viewed as a part of society (Paulson, 2002, p. 27). In order to explain the interaction between these elements, the authors introduce such a concept as social microenvironment (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2011, p. 7). This notion can be understood as a set of social values, demographic trends, and lifestyles adopted in the community (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2011, p. 7). Moreover, it includes political, economic, and technological factors influencing the community. It seems that the explanation provided by Archie Carroll and Ann Buchholtz overlooks legal and environmental factors which are often mentioned by scholars (Boddy, 2009, p. 85). One can argue that this term is important for understanding the interaction between businesses and the environment. The social macro-environment affects the activities of entrepreneurs, the standards that companies have to meet. Apart from that, it determines the degree to which businesses are regulated.
It should be noted that Archie Carroll and Ann Buchholtz pay close attention to the idea of pluralism. Such a notion as pluralism is used to describe the diffusion of power among organizations and groups representing society (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2011, p. 8). The principles of pluralism imply that power should not belong to a single stakeholder. For example, corporate organizations should be accountable to society and they must ensure that their business activities do not pose a threat to the community (Hawkins, 2006, p. 7). In turn, the government is supposed to reconcile the conflicts between various stakeholders.
In this book, the author illustrates a situation when businesses abuse their power. For instance, they discuss the activities of the tobacco industry that offer dangerous products to customers, and they imperil the lives of many people (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2011, p. 8). This is the reason why the government had to implement regulations that would change the policies of tobacco companies. In particular, these organizations were forced to inform buyers about the dangers of their products (Pampel, 2009). It is possible to distinguish several stakeholders involved in this conflict, namely businesses, buyers, healthcare organizations, and government. One can argue that they have different interests. For instance, businesses are concerned with their profitability, while governmental organizations should make sure that the health of citizens is not endangered.
On the whole, these examples show that the relations between businesses and communities can be very complex because they are affected by political, economic, technological, and other factors. Moreover, different stakeholders may have different attitudes and interests. This is the key point that one can make. Under such circumstances, close attention should be paid to the role of regulations introduced by the state that should encourage the diffusion of power among various organizations and social groups.
Reference List
Boddy, D. (2009). Management. Boston: Pearson Education.
Carroll, A., & Buchholtz, A. (2011). Business and Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management. New York: Cengage Learning.
Hawkins, D. (2006). Corporate Social Responsibility: Balancing Tomorrow’s Sustainability and Today’s Profitability.
Pampel, F. (2009). Tobacco Industry and Smoking. New York: Infobase Publishing.
Paulson, D. (2002). Competitive Business, Caring Business: An Integral Business Perspective for the 21st Century. London: Cosimo, Inc.