We should take the word “social” here seriously, and think of “social responsibility” as being
about business’s responsibilities to society “as a whole,” rather than to specific individuals or
groups (such as customers or employees).
The most basic social responsibility of business is to try to offer products or services that will
make people’s lives better. That is, to put something forward in the marketplace that will
make the community better off. Companies should try to be valued members of the society
in which they operate.
Environmental impact is clearly an important area, since a) business can have a big impact
on the environment, and b) society as a whole relies on the environment.
Whether companies have substantial social responsibilities that go beyond their own
operations is a hard question.
But if they DO, the most obvious advice is for them to focus on things that they a) know
about and b) are good at.