I'm looking for readings for an undergraduate course about the link between
the social market and social norms about acceptable business behavior in the
USA.
For instance, I'm interested in analyses of how the change between #1 and #2
occurred:
1) layoffs by businesses during good economic times in the USA where very
difficult to justify in the "court of public opinion" (before 1980)
2) layoffs by businesses during good economic times can be socially
justified by the ritualistic chanting by the business of "the stock market
requires we boost profitability (in the 1990s).
Of course social norms about layoffs are only one of many that have changed.
Also, is there anything on current tensions about changing social norms for
business behavior? For instance, social norms about business's invasion of
individuals' right to privacy on the Internet are not a site of conflict.
For instance, DoubleClick recently had to back off on their plans to merge
various databases holding information about individuals not because it was
illegal but because of "public outcry": this behavior violated social norms.
However, I would bet that in 20 years this "public outcry" will have become
a faint sound as social standards against invasions of privacy by businesses
fade away. Is there anything written on this sort of process?
Thanks for any help.
Eric Nilsson
