ABSTRACT
Social responsibilities—whether of a business, a hospital, or a university— may arise in different areas. They may emerge out of the social impacts of the institution. The modern organization exists to provide a specific service to society. It therefore has to be in society. It has to be in a community, has to be a neighbor, has to do its work within a social setting. But also, it has to employ people to do its work. Its social impacts inevitably go beyond specific contribution it exists to make. Responsibility for social impacts is a management responsibility— not because it is social responsibility, but because it is business responsibility. Social problems are dysfunctions of society and— at least potentially— degenerative diseases of the body politic. The most significant opportunities for converting social problems into business opportunities may therefore not lie in new technologies, new products, and new services. Social problems that management action converts into opportunities soon cease to be problems.
