People trust executives to intervene in social issues, says Jeffrey Sonnenfeld
Company decisions are rarely driven by a boss’s personal positions, the management scholar adds
IN AUGUST THE Business Roundtable, an American corporate lobby group, updated its 2019 “Statement of the Purpose of a Corporation”. It emphasised that shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and communities depend on each other for success. Doing good is not antithetical to doing well. Yet certain Republican politicians attack executives who speak up on social issues—attempting to cancel voices they disagree with, even while lamenting “cancel culture”—and press state pension funds to retaliate against firms supporting goals pertaining to environmental, social and governance (ESG) aims.
This article appeared in the By Invitation section of the print edition under the headline “People trust executives to intervene in social issues, says Jeffrey Sonnenfeld”
From the September 24th 2022 edition
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