The Relationship Between Business and Society

Since the course is about business and society, we first need to define "business" and "society," especially in the context of this course.

• A business can simply be defined as “a commercial or industrial establishment” (Webster's New World College Dictionary, 2014).
• A society can broadly be defined as “all people, collectively, regarded as constituting a community of related, interdependent individuals” (Webster's New World College Dictionary, 2014).

The term "business" can be used to denote businesses of all sizes. However, for the purpose of this chapter and this course, "business" will mostly be used in a collective sense where it will denote all companies in various industries, large multinationals, corporate America, or global business.

"Society" could be seen as a small community or an entire nation but, generally, this term is used with reference to groups and entities that share certain values and traditions and have some level of interdependence and collective goals.

The relationship between business and society is a multilevel phenomenon. It can be understood at different levels, such as

• local businesses and their relationship with the local community where they operate;
• national-level businesses dealing with local communities where they operate, states where they have presence, and national-level groups and entities; and
• multinational corporations dealing with local communities in different countries, states and countries where they have a presence, and global or international-level groups and entities (e.g., International Labor Organization, United Nations, UNICEF, GATT, etc.).

In essence, businesses today have to face and deal with multiple entities at different levels.