Last year, the theological journal themelios, owned by The Gospel Coalition, published a paper asking “Do Companies Have Social Responsibilities?” The author, Dr. Gary Cundill, concludes, “Companies are not human persons that have social and environmental responsibilities; they are legal entities that have legal responsibilities. There can therefore be no useful theology of corporate social and environmental responsibility.”
I agree with Dr. Cundill’s conclusion, but he fumbled his initial question, “What are companies for?” He recalled the Business Roundtable’s purpose, “to deliver value to its stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders.” And he discussed the Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman’s statement in Time Magazine that “there is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits.”
