Today I came across an interesting news article from Yahoo! News titled “Haiti Relief: Corporate Donations – See How Much Major Companies Are Donating.” The articles lists more than 40 major corporations in the US and their donations. Most companies donated $500 000 or $1 million. Although I support donations to Haiti, I keep on thinking about Milton Friedman’s pessimistic views on corporate social responsibility, and what he would say if he were alive. I feel as if many of the companies are mainly donating to compete with competitors (Pepsi donated $1 million, then CocaCola donated $1 million too!! This just makes their actions seem insincere). A while ago, I watched a video about 9/11 and some of its effects. One New York stock broker admitted that when he realized the World Trade Centre was attacked, his first thought was “what will happen to the stocks?!” Similarly, I am sure that the first thing that went through some executives’ heads when they received news of Haiti’s disaster was “here’s a chance for us to seem socially responsible!” I have to agree with Friedman that businesses cannot and should not be responsible to society. It’s up to the individuals to better society if they wish to.
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