21st Century Business Leadership and the Rise of Corporate Activism
The macro-environment for business is changing and with it, expectations for corporate responsibility and leadership. The 21st century has brought profound systemic challenges, from climate change to global health crises, that governments are incapable of addressing alone. Rising income inequality in many countries and the inability of governments to deliver on their mandates are leading to mounting public frustration with traditional politics and political leadership. With globalisation, the power and influence of large firms in society has increased dramatically and the public is increasingly looking to business to assume a leadership role and take responsibility for societal well-being. In this environment, and particularly in the United States, we are starting to see business leaders speaking out publicly on relevant environmental, social and political issues and leveraging their firms’ economic power to support their stance.
In recent years, we have seen CEOs, both individually and collaboratively, speaking out on contentious social and political issues, from gun violence to voting and transgender rights, that are potentially consequential to shareholders, and backing their statement with actions. While corporations have always engaged politically with governments through lobbying and other more traditional activities behind the scenes, it is only recently that the type of public corporate activism we are now witnessing has come to the forefront.
This report, published by KKS Advisors (now part of dss+) in collaboration with the High Meadows Institute explores the motivations behind this expanded form of corporate political engagement and the risks and opportunities it presents for both business and society. We also summarize in the appendix some of the key findings on strategies firms are using to manage corporate activism successfully.