Stanford Business Classics

Private Management and Public Policy is a landmark work at the intersection of business and society. First published in 1975, it focuses on the management processes that companies use to respond to social issues. The text develops the "principle of public responsibility" as an alternative to the notion that firms have unlimited accountability. And, it presents one of the first systems-based approaches to corporate responsibility, providing theoretical support for business involvement in public policy. Arguably, the book''s major contribution is its broad outline of an alternative theory of the firm in society—one that offers the possibility of overcoming traditional public and private dichotomies.