LIBRI DI LAURA RADI

Ethics and Economics: the Nemetria Conventions ABSTRACT: Since 1992 Nemetria, active as Training Centre, currently organises conferences held annually on a theme such as the relationship between Ethics and Economics. In these years Nobel prizes, entrepreneurs, politicians and prelates haven given their contribution identifying those values set as the base of a correct interpretation and right development of the relationship between Ethics and Economis. We start on the principle of ethic intended as ethics of the responsibility, being self responsible and extending our responsibility in the world we live. A responsibility connected with the concept of development not only as the ultimate aim but a sort of recognition of the man as promoter and subject of this development. A responsibility connected with the risk which is not uncertainty but rather part of the economic rationality and, finally, the competition not seen as fight to prevail but way of renovation. Solidarity is another element set as priority or better as engine of the behaviour of singles inside the society. A value which should not be intended as organising general charity programs, but rather firm determination to be strongly committed to the common interest. Cinzia Sechi, Sindnova (ed.)

La Responsabilità Sociale di impresa in una intervista ad Alessandro Benetton ABSTRACT: Corporate Social Responsibility Social and environmental pressures enormously influence companies’ management decisions. That is why there has been an affirmation of the awareness that apart from the economic dimension a business also has an ethical dimension. It is precisely in relation to this dimension that a profound change has taken place: that of the disintegration of the opposition between the shareholder’s view and the stockholder’s view. Obviously satisfying the interests of investors remains the central and indispensable element of a company’s activity, but now the quest to reach that objective is increasingly linked to a commitment, on the part of managers and business people, to favouring a sustainable development of the area in which the business operates. It is undeniable that the market is the best judge and it is precisely the dynamic nature of the market which lends such complexity to all the variables that characterize the life of a business. The theme of social corporate responsibility is now at the centre of many debates but perhaps, despite this, there is not yet sufficient clarity in the definition of ‘social corporate responsibility’. There is also a certain amount of confusion between issues such as sustainable development, social equity and business ethics: all terms pertaining to Social Corporate Responsibility, but which certainly do not exhaust its meaning. Social responsibility is a guiding principle which transversally concerns all aspects of the life of a company. It is first and foremost a question of moral responsibility, even before legal responsibility. This is sufficient to suggest that the behaviour of financial institutions, such as 21 Investimenti, is not at all neutral with regard to all those who are influenced to a greater or lesser extent by their business activities. It is enough to consider the connection between financial activity and local development, the battle against unemployment or protecting the environment. It is indisputable, then, that financial activity is very closely linked with the huge debate about social corporate responsibility. The important thing in this type of evaluation is the awareness that the value of a company does not depend only on numbers. In the face of definitions and declarations of objectives, it therefore becomes necessary to ask oneself what social responsibility means for a company in its daily business in order to make this the essence of the commitment and the duty that are at the core of the activity and of the development of the company.

Ethical Business and the Development of Civil Society: one introduction ABSTRACT: The great changes taking place in our complex society have inevitably called for businesses to act decisively to modify their role, a role that finds its strength in the growing interdependence which exists between businesses and society on the whole. The business objective must combine competitiveness and sustainability and in this context Corporate Social Responsibility becomes one of the most important governing objectives of a business. Corporate Social Responsibility is not some unreal, utopian ideal: on the contrary, it represents a real strategic component of business management, capable of ensuring long-term advantages for the business. Alongside actual codes of conduct which have institutionalized Corporate Social Responsibility, a new business culture has emerged: a culture which combines the factors of production and management with those of ethics. In this way, along with their economic responsibility, businesses have also assumed a social and political responsibility in the process of change and development which our society is living through.