fire’ under which they could deal with workers at their will. (iii) Impact of consumer conscious- ness: Development of education and mass media and increasing competition in the market have made the consumer conscious of his right and power in determining market forces. The principle of caveat emptor (or let the buyer beware) has been substituted by the principle of ‘customer is king’. Business enterprises have started following customer - oriented policies.
(iv) Development of social standard for business: Businesses are no longer considered merely money crazy entities which can be allowed to mint money at any cost and get away with any kind of business practices. New social standards consider economic activity of business enterprises as legitimate but with the condition that they must also serve social needs. No business can be done in isolation from society. It is the society that permits business to exist and grow and it is on the basis of social standards that business functioning is to be ultimately judged.
(v) Developme nt of business education: Development of business education with its rich content of social responsibility has made more and more people aware of the social purpose of business. Educated persons as consumers, investors, employees, or owners have become more sensitive towards social issues than was the case earlier, when such education was not available. (vi) Relationship between social interest and business interest: Business enterprises have started realising the fact that social interest and business interest are not contradictory. Instead, these are complementary to each other.
The feeling that business can grow only through exploitation of society has given way to the belief that long-term benefit of business lies in serving the society well. So also, a useful institution like business is recognised as an essential element of a modern civilised society. (vii) Development of professional, managerial class: Professional management education in universities and specialised management institutes have created a separate class of professional managers who have got an altogether different attitude towards social responsibility as compared to the earlier class of owner manager. Professional managers are more interested in satisfying a