Business executives' attitudes toward social responsibility: Past and present

To assess corporate executives' prevailing attitudes toward social responsibility and to gauge shifts in attitudes, the authors compared the results of a recent, nation-wide survey of business executives with those gathered 30 years ago in a similar study. To the extent possible, questionnaires were mailed to officials in the same corporations that responded to the earlier survey. Changes in executives' attitudes toward corporate obligations, shifts in perceptions of social problems, and similar concerns are detailed in this study. The results clearly show that modern-day managers place no greater emphasis on social obligations than executives of the 1970s. Survey findings also reveal that social problems change over time. Today, business managers are concerned about problems and issues that their predecessors never faced: global warming, a new U.S. trade policy, and a dramatic decline in ethical and moral values of people in all walks of life.