Nouvelles diverses | Page 28

Bonjour à toutes et à tous, j’ai eu le plaisir d’être interviewé par l’animateur de RDI Économie (M. Gérald Fillion) pour parler avec lui de la responsabilité sociale de la fonderie Horne.

Vous pouvez consulter mon analyse dans la partie Opinions et commentaires du site et au lien suivant : Gérald Fillion, « Arsenic dans l’air: la Fonderie Horne continuera de dépasser les normes provinciales » (RDI Radio Canada, 14 mai 2019).

À la prochaine…

Ivan Tchotourian animera un atelier aux Phd Days qui auront lieu à la FSA du 9 au 11 mai 2019 (https://www4.fsa.ulaval.ca/evenements/journees-phd-days-2019/). L’atelier s’intitule « Processus de publication et conduite responsable en recherche ».

Alexis Langenfeld présentera également un papier de recherche la même journée dans le Panel – Développement durable présidé par Olivier Boiral qui a lieu de 13h15 – 16h30.

Pour plus de détails, rendez-vous sur le site : https://ivantchotourian.openum.ca/

Belle synthèse et réflexion que partage Jospeh Liptrap sur la mise en place d’un modèle d’entreprise sociale à l’échelle européenne : « European Parliament Recommends Creating EU-Wide Social Entreprise Legal Status -A Misstep? ». Ce texte est disponible sur l’Oxford Business Law Blog.

Extrait :

Compared with previous vertical attempts to bore through Member States’ “armour of sovereignty” by introducing supranational organisational forms, the Parliament’s suggested solution represents a cautious departure in approach. Exacerbated by the implications of Brexit, this may stem from a climate of general hostility to new initiatives in areas where there have been calls for redistributing matters dealt with by the EU back to Member States. Similar to the Societas Unius Personae directive following the failure of the European private company project, the proposal would take the shape of a directive introducing partially harmonised rules. It would only concentrate on the “core” elements of social enterprises, leaving other aspects of regulation to the national law of each Member State. The legal status would be voluntarily conferrable on any private law entity. To be eligible, an interested firm would be required to include within its articles of association certain express provisions:

1. it must have a social purpose;
2. it must engage in a socially useful activity (e.g. work integration to combat labour market exclusion);
3. it must be subject to at least a partial constraint on profit distribution and have specific rules on the allocation of profits, with some profits made reinvested to achieve its social purpose;
4. its governance model must democratically involve stakeholders affected by its activities; and
5. it must incur extra reporting obligations.

The “European Social Enterprise” (ESE) legal status would be valid and recognised in all Member States, also extending to a certification label for social enterprises’ products.

À la prochaine…

Dans un article du Financial Post de janvier 2019, Terence Corcoran revient sur les thèses de Milton Friedman pour les appuyer au travers d’arguments intéressants. Je vous invite à lire son analyse dans l’article suivant : « Milton Friedman is right, profit is a company’s only purpose » (Financial Post, 19 janvier 2019)

Petit extrait :

There is nothing in the redefine-capitalism movement that was not identified almost 50 years ago by Friedman as a danger to markets and economic freedom. The concepts and principles reviewed in his 1970 essay, ignored by Mayer and all the reformers, are as relevant today as they were then.

Generally, Friedman would have no problem with corporations that engage in virtue signalling. For example, Gillette’s “toxic masculinity” ad is an obvious attempt to sell products by piggybacking on a controversial social issue. Gillette is acting out of self-interest.

Friedman declined to denounce such corporate attempts to “generate goodwill” and draw attention to their products, although he warned that the strategic pursuit of social approval and conflict amounted to “hypocritical window-dressing.”

It is utterly false to portray corporations as manufacturers of profits at the expense of society. Today’s corporations, from Microsoft Corp. to GM to Amazon.com Inc., survive by producing goods and services that feed, clothe, transport, entertain and otherwise provide benefits to billions of people.

The corporate adoption of social purposes would take focus away from these core business purposes. Worse, expanding the number of corporate purposes places an undesirable undemocratic framework on corporate executives. As Friedman saw it in 1970, giving social and political responsibilities to business leaders installs unelected corporate managers in positions of unelected power

À la prochaine…