I believe corporations do indeed have obligations. And today, I'd like to focus on what I think those obligations are. Specifically, I'll cover three things:

1. how I believe a company should conduct itself in responsibly running its own affairs;
2. how it can apply its special expertise in a programmatic way to aid its community; and
3. how it can contribute philanthropically to the betterment of society.

These, then, are several major areas in which I think corporations have obligations to society. I would only add that most of these obligations demand the direct involvement and personal attention of the Chief Executive Officer. CEO involvement sends the right signals to the organization, to the community, and to the public-at-large that corporate responsibility is real, substantial and of sincere concern to corporate management.

I can tell you from my own involvements that the educational value flows both ways. It's a broadening experience to get out of the board room and take the virtues and vitality of free enterprise into the community.

One of my own involvements is raising money for Lincoln Center. I'm sometimes asked how a hard-line free-enterpriser got sidetracked into supporting the arts. Well, aside from a lifelong addiction to good music and the performing arts, I have no trouble twisting a few arms for this particular cause. I simply ask people to consider the total economic benefit generated for the City of New York by the concert halls, theatres, restaurants, hotels and other businesses that have sprung up and flourished around the Lincoln Center complex.

I believe corporations do indeed have obligations. And today, I'd like to focus on what I think those obligations are. Specifically, I'll cover three things: How I believe a company should conduct itself in responsibly running its own affairs; How it can apply its special expertise in a programmatic way to aid its community; and How it can contribute philanthropically to the betterment of society.