There is a lot of discussion and disagreement as to whether it is right for a business to have a social conscience. There are those who think, as Milton Friedman did, that the only responsibility of a business is to maximize its profits, and not be deliberately negligent, and there are those who believe the ideas of Freeman, that a business must be ethical and work its way around key stakeholders.
I think that there is a middle ground between the two philosophies. Because if a company truly wants to maximize profits, it must be willing to explore all options open to making profits, and it must be able to realize every opportunity to increase profits, including having a socially responsible business model. Not only is being a socially responsible company a positive choice for the brand of the company, it can also lead to many new opportunities. Even if the company is only being environmentally friendly or socially responsible to propagate an identity, the effect of this decision will still be positive.
I think it’s evident that being socially conscientiousness can in fact be the road to profit maximization. The two don’t need to be at odds.