Society’s Expectations of Corporate Performance Today (Some Discussions about a ‘Global Performance’)

Society’s expectations regarding the performance of major corporations could not really havebeen examined before now. This is to say that, within the political context of the modern world, society hadno expectations of corporations, which were considered as one social construct among others. From a broadpolitical perspective, societal expectations could be seen expressed in the exercise of representativedemocracy. The political context (the ‘liberal moment’ herein), which has developed since the early 1980sactually changed the general perspective. (1st argument) The main consequence is a shift in the dominantrepresentation of the corporation, so that it is currently considered a vector of profit rather than a ‘sociotechnical’system. (2nd argument). Of course, the ambiguity of the very notion of performance did make itpossible to integrate expectations beyond just profits (3rd argument); nonetheless, these expectations must bejudged both in terms of hope and reality. (Conclusion)