Social responsibility is subject of considerable debate. For not-for-profit organizations, their responsibility is defined by their mandate. Their donors set this mandate, or at least they accept it. It is actually not much different in for-profit entities, except that the general perception is that earning profit is not socially responsible, whereas the activities of not-for-profit entities are generally considered to be socially responsible.

For a for-profit entity, there are two schools of thought. Now, Friedman (1970) makes a fairly coherent case that the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. Simply stated, business exists to earn a return for its shareholders. When people donate to a not-for-profit entity, they expect that entity will perform certain acts, and it is the same with respect to for-profit entities. People are investing in those companies to earn a return, and therefore the role of management is to focus on earning that...
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