Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of the Luxury Brand Louis Vuitton recently opened a contemporary art and performance museum in France. The museum is open to the public and is something that Arnault and his “Fondation Louis Vuitton” Team have been working on for over a decade. The museum gives Arnault the opportunity to display the versatility of his brand. Previously, Louis Vuitton’s customer segment was people interested in ennobling themselves. However these days it has become increasingly difficult for luxury brands to distinguish themselves from one another. Arnault believes that this Museum will not only demonstrate but symbolize Louis Vuitton’s Point of Parity. It is not enough to create more and more stores around the world to gain potential customers. Louis Vuitton must focus on value proposition. The Museum demonstrates that the company’s purpose is not only to sell  luxurious clothing, they are also invested in cultural heritage and strong customer relationships. The opening days of the museum will be free admission for the public to come and explore the new architecture  as well as become more acquainted with the company. This is a good start for the company to expand their customer segment because it invites not only Louis Vuitton’s dedicated customers but also people from other lifestyles such as tourists or people who typically cannot afford Louis Vuitton’s goods. Louis Vuitton will now, no longer belong in only the category of luxury clothing.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/business/international/a-cultural-gift-to-paris-could-redesign-lvmhs-image.html?ref=international

The article Corporate Social Responsibility: The Key To Attracting & Retaining Top Talent was published in December of 2013 by Filipe Santos. The article discusses how there is now not only a desire from customers to see companies positively impact society but also from the employees within the company. As mentioned in the article by Milton Friedman “a corporation is an artificial person” (Friedman, The Social Responsibility) . It is the individuals that create the business ethics. The article almost seemed to embody the differences between Friedman and Freeman as it discussed the issues between entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. Entrepreneurs take on the task of convincing stakeholders to support the business purely for the interest of profit which is generally a more enticing incentive than simply giving back to the community. Intrapreneurs need to use stronger points on individual stakeholders in order to convince them that investing value into a corporation is beneficial in the long run which can be difficult to see when profit brings a faster reward.

This article challenges Friedman’s opinion because it proves that a corporation committing  to social responsibilities will benefit society by, as Freeman explains; having the same desire to achieve social responsibilities not only combines different groups of a corporation but also different ranks in one. They can work better and more efficiently when they believe in the work they are doing.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insead/2013/11/12/corporate-social-responsibility-the-key-to-attracting-retaining-top-talent/

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