Corporate integrity and the “dark side of business”

What is the purpose of business? How effective are business organisations in their pursuits, and how can business education help in the process? These and many related questions have long been at the centre of much debate and controversy between the critics and advocates of capitalism and free enterprise. The radical critique is grounded in the belief that free enterprise is by nature a selfish endeavour and is incompatible with the common good. While a minority of opponents still believe in the possibility and superiority of ‘collective ownership of the means of production’, the majority of critics have realised that there may be no viable alternative to a market economy and call on governments to impose severe restraints and penalties on business to minimise the detrimental impacts of the selfish pursuit of profit. Unconditional advocates of free enterprise start with the ecognition that the purpose and sole social responsibility of business is to maximise profit and argue that it is precisely by doing so that business organisations create social value