The difference between futures forecasting and scientific prediction is not one of rigor but of purpose. The scientist's purpose is to test a specific model about the world; anything which threatens that test must be controlled by (a) elimination, (b) experimental manipulation, or ( c) statistical manipulation. The futures researcher's goal, however, is not to test a model but to suggest ( through discovery or logic) a model which encompasses and extends our perception of reality sufficiently well to permit choices or decisions to be made.

Since the term "social responsibility " can be interpreted in many ways, it must be carefully defined at the outset. In the present context, "social responsibilities of business" are defined as expectations arising from the transactions between a corporation and the following principal societal claimants : shareholders (including bond holders) ; employees; consumers; government; public; suppliers; and competitors . The social aspects of business responsibility stem from the two-sided relationships between business and the society which created it and which it in turn serves.