Satisfying Corporate Shareholders or the Stakeholder as Business Essay

Satisfying Corporate Shareholders or the Stakeholder as Business Priority - Essay Example Adam Smith, an 18th Century theorist, proposed his theory of the invisible hand, which essentially states that business’ thirst for profitability will automatically create positive environmental outcomes for society, hence satisfying corporate responsibility toward the betterment of society (Nickels, McHugh & McHugh, 2005). These outcomes include better economic stability for the region in which the firm operates, as well as providing new jobs and better quality products for citizens. When a firm moves its operations from domestic to the foreign, the outcomes, as measured by the invisible hand theory, would indeed be positive for the foreign nation in which the business thrives. However, moving operations out of the domestic environment, especially in times of national economic crisis, only serves to eliminate career positions for already-struggling citizens in the United States, thus corporate expectations for profitability tend to blind businesses from the needs of its poten tial local workforce. This topic is hotly debated today which is quite obvious in the media and with recent activities of striking workers who fight to ensure that jobs stay local by preventing foreign expansion efforts. Today, Adam Smith might attempt to quiet the barrage of social outcry regarding business shifting its operations overseas by stating that the business had, in some fashion, restored health to the local region while it was domestically in place. Thus, corporate proponents of Smith’s theory might suggest that business had performed ethically...