Buying a 1.5 litre of bottled water from Nestle will cost $1.19, which is $1.19 more than what Nestle Canada pays British Columbia for water extraction. Referring to Milton Friedman’s book Capitalism and Freedom, the definition of the ‘social responsibility’ of a business is actually fulfilled- Nestle is engaging in open competition without deception or fraud (at least to the BC government). However, one must keep in mind that exercising social responsibility does come at his/her own expense, and that Nestle is extracting 265 million litres of water. It seems that while Nestle has always stood by a stance of working with the local government, it is actually a cloak of deception – in effect it only is an argument in the short run.
Executives also have to report to their shareholders, and by the point of being socially responsible at one’s own risk, the businessman should instead look a the bigger picture of BC as a whole (as well as the people in Hope). This would allow him/her to consider the social responsibilities before making decisions with the shareholders and their money. One could do good, but only if they find out all the details first.
Source: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/wild-west-of-groundwater-billion-dollar-nestl%C3%A9-extracting-b-c-s-drinking-water-for-free-1.587568