Business and Business Orientation: A Perception Study of Insiders and Outsiders

Abstract

The current time can be described as a period of protests and public anger not only in political space but also against business. A number of business and political misdemeanors have rocked the consciousness of people in different countries. The corporate misdemeanors are unlikely to be outcomes of randomness and confusion prevalent in business systems. This study was undertaken to gauge perception of two integral territories of business- the mangers and consumers. The motivating purpose was to explore perceptions of insiders and outsiders on different facets of their orientation or philosophical underpinnings with respect to shareholders, stockholders, environment, legal compliance, societal interest and ethics. The study found that perceptions on the orientation facets do not differ between the two groups. That is, if managers perceive business to work for profit maximization so do outsiders. Secondly, the perceptions do not exhibit extreme tendencies. This implies that insiders and outsiders perceptions concur on the fact that business is neither extremely oriented towards ethics or environment nor has complete disregard for these aspects. This is a positive sign because at least business is not found be completely insensitive to aspects that go beyond conventionally coveted metrics of business performance.

Keywords: Business Misdemeanors, Business Raison Dêtre, Consumer Manipulation, Quasi Moral Obligation, Sustainability, Ethics, Community Orientation

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