Although firms have always aimed to generate profit, it is becoming more and more frequent to find individuals discussing the social responsibilities that businesses should have. During the course of this essay, I would bring this situation to objective analysis before drawing a rational conclusion. On the one hand, it is that businesses need to generate revenue in order to thrive in a cutthroat environment. It makes sense that any business’s top priority should be to pay for its ongoing expenses, such as employee salaries and payments for buildings and utilities. In addition to these expenditures, businesses must also in order to continue to be prosperous. Any worries about social obligations become irrelevant unless a firm is able to the continually changing expectations of the customer base. In other words, a firm can only contribute positively to society only if revenues are sound. The mission of a company should not, however, be to ; instead, it should be to serve a greater social purpose. Owners and managers have a social responsibility to treat their employees fairly and not take advantage of them. that employees have a high standard of living, they could, for instance, pay their staff , based on the recommendation from the authorities. In addition, there is the concept of companies contributing a portion of their income to local charities, environmental causes, or educational programmes with the purpose of improving the general welfare of the local communities. Last but not least, rather than attempting to minimise their tax payments through accounting loopholes, corporate heads should be proactive in contributing to society by . In conclusion, I uphold the opinion that businesses should give their social duties the amount of consideration being equal to their financial goals.
Sample response & feedback
Social Responsibilities of Businesses vs Making Money
Question
As well as making money businesses also have a responsibility towards society. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Annotated response
14 correction notes
Overall assessment
Why this response received Band 7.0
The essay presents a recognisable argument for combining financial success with social responsibilities, including fair pay, community contributions and taxes. The financial discussion is developed more fully than the list of social contributions. The introduction delays the stance, and describing social obligations as “irrelevant” under financial pressure sits uneasily with the conclusion’s equal consideration. Vocabulary and sentence structure are generally controlled, with some awkward phrasing.
IELTS criteria
How each score was decided
TR Task Response
7.0The essay supports social responsibilities alongside financial goals, with relevant discussion of wages, donations and taxes. The stance becomes explicit in the body and conclusion rather than the introduction; the claim that obligations become “irrelevant” when finances are difficult needs qualification, and some support remains general.
CC Coherence and Cohesion
7.0Ideas progress logically across clearly organised paragraphs with effective cohesive devices, although a few transitions and the introductory framing feel slightly mechanical.
LR Lexical Resource
7.0Vocabulary is sufficiently flexible and precise, with natural collocations like 'cutthroat environment' and 'accounting loopholes', alongside occasional awkward phrasing that slightly reduces precision.
GRA Grammatical Range and Accuracy
7.0A good range of complex structures, including conditionals and relative clauses, is used with flexibility and generally strong accuracy, with only minor slips such as the doubled 'only...only' construction.