Business Environment, 4th Edition by Pearson

17

Social

Responsibility

of Business

469

ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF CONCEPT

Although the subject ‘social responsibilities of business’ in its present form

and content has gained popular attention only in the recent years, its origin can

be traced back to the evolution of the concept of a welfare state. As the pace of

industrialisation quickened, employers became more and more concerned with the

loss of productive eciency due to avoidable sickness or accident or stoppages of

work due to bad personal relationships. This gave rise to the idea of a welfare state,

which was further strengthened by the growth of democracy and of respect for

human dignity during ...