Companies Beyond Profit?

If the main question is how to invert the aims of the economy, in order to reinsert mankind in the core of the project, and in which the companies are just one of its parts, an initial debate concerns the level of the business enterprises' responsibility for the process of globalization and its effects. There is not necessarily a contradiction between the concept of enterprise and that of solidarity. The desire to be “a good citizen” was, until recently, part of the agenda of numerous companies. They were forced to restructure by the recent changes in the world of finance and commerce otherwise they would not develop, and very frequently, nor even survive. In this way, they became organizations with just an economic aim, making them lose the sense of belonging to their milieu, and hence even their own identity.The considerable influence of companies on the daily life of an ever-greater number of individuals cannot be denied. Legally speaking, a company is not considered to be a collective good, but it has social and environmental responsibilities. However, if the States are incapable of making companies fulfil their legal obligations to society, who is going to regulate the social responsibility of enterprises, and how? It can be appreciated that the reactions of consumers (a call for boycott, the opinion campaign for clean clothes), investors (the emergence of company assessment agencies and organizations who analyze the social and environmental performance of companies, wage saving) are becoming more and more relevant. Certain companies have established their own code of ethics, codes of conduct, or have recourse to audits of social conformity. The question of the company's position in society and how it approaches solidarity assumes another dimension. What is at stake in terms of solidarity, on one hand, among the companies and, on the other hand, among them and the players who shape the environment for the companies themselves, beyond their relationship with society as a whole?