ABSTRACT
There is little point in calling for consensus about what is ‘good’. Many factors, both old and new, will continue to reinforce often radically different perspectives. Actually, there is much to be said for a diversity of views. But such differences should not and need not perpetuate a tramline debate about what we should expect from the corporate community, and how best to realize it. Tramline debates are rarely about difference per se, but more often concern people’s difficulty in reflecting on their positions, and adjusting them in the light of experience and the potential for change. Tramline debate also rarely underpins real change, since it tends to embed intransigence or simple inertia. For this reason, tramline characteristics of the current debate about the role of business in society need to be overcome for progress to be made.
