{"id":5103,"date":"2023-07-14T14:04:43","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T14:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/how-activist-ceos-can-pick-how-and-where-to-make-a-stand\/"},"modified":"2023-07-14T14:04:44","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T14:04:44","slug":"how-activist-ceos-can-pick-how-and-where-to-make-a-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103","title":{"rendered":"How \u2018Activist CEOs\u2019 Can Pick How And Where To Make A Stand"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Amid all the tumultuous change that has affected business and society in general in recent years one aspect has not received as much attention as it perhaps might have. This is the extent to which big business in particular has ceased to be automatically associated with conservative politics and has instead often allied with more liberal elements. Of course, companies in such sectors as oil and gas and mining are more likely to align with politicians sympathetic to their desire to drill or mine in areas that are frequently seen as environmentally sensitive. But when it comes to wider social issues, such as those surrounding diversity and equality, they \u2014 or at least their chief executives \u2014 are increasingly likely to speak out.<\/p>\n

This might be partly down to the fact that in countries such as the U.S. and the U.K. parties of the right have become more populist and less keen on policies, such as free trade and globalisation, which have long held dear by corporations. But it also has something to do with employees and consumers becoming increasingly willing to press CEOs to make a stand on certain issues.<\/p>\n

The rise of CEO Activism, as it is known, has been charted by various academics and in the U.S. is reckoned to have been given a boost by the arrival of Donald Trump as president. There has been increasing evidence of the phenomenon in Europe in this time, but not to the same extent as in the U.S. and, according to Professor Georg Wernicke, who has been studying the area for some time, there were a few instances in Asia before the practice died out.<\/p>\n

While most academic studies look at the effect on corporate performance of companies becoming involved in these matters, the paper just published in the Journal of Business Ethics<\/em> by Wernicke, an associate professor of strategy and business policy at HEC Paris, and Aurelien Feix from TBS Education looks at the effect of such actions on society in general. The authors argue that, while many people are in favor of business leaders making the stands they have, such actions are not always good for democracy. In a recent interview, Wernicke said that he thought that executives often did not think things through. Backing a liberal cause might appeal to certain customers who want to know where the companies with which they deal stand on certain matters and to would-be employees who increasingly want their employers to align with their own values, but there was a danger of alienating others. It was one thing for a company such as the outdoor apparel company Patagonia to make a stand since it had always operated as an activist organization and attracted similarly-minded staff and customers. \u201cBut it is more difficult and complex for bigger companies,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-ad><\/p>\n

He also drew a distinction between issues, such as Black Lives Matter, where it was obvious that companies should make a statement, and other issues, where there was a less clear connection and it might be better for a CEO to stay neutral.<\/p>\n

Borrowing from political philosophy, the article introduces the idea of there being two perspectives through which CEO activism can be viewed: \u201cliberal\u201d and \u201crepublican.\u201d The former considers these actions as good for democracy as long as they are lawful and respect people\u2019s rights, while the latter argues that for that to be the case they should go beyond legality and rights and take into account such factors as the quality of debate and fairness. In other words, CEOs should be \u201ccivic-minded\u201d when intervening in issues beyond business.<\/p>\n

It seems that Wernicke, for one, is not convinced that these leaders are always thinking along these lines. Pointing out that a linked project was looking at the connection between narcissism and activism, he said he had a \u201chunch\u201d that some CEOs were adopting stances as a sort of \u201cbrand building.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an effort to provide some guidance on when leaders should become involved in this way, Wernicke and Feix suggest some criteria that civic-minded CEOs could apply to gauge whether they should make a public intervention. These are added insight, i.e. bringing information about the implications of a government policy for employment or enterprise; timeliness, that is, intervening at a time when it can make a difference rather than after the event \u2014 Wernicke cited the example of executives criticising the decision of Britain to leave the E.U. after the vote rather than before it; constructiveness, or making a useful contribution rather than merely signalling, which might just contribute to the growing polarization in society; and transparency, by which they mean that a leader should explain why they are intervening. An example was Apple CEO Tim Cook speaking out as a \u201cproud member of the LGBTQ+ community\u201d to express his concern about a spate of laws restricting discussion in schools of issues affecting this community.<\/p>\n

But, as Wernicke made clear, sometimes it is less obvious. Indeed, he suggests that the whole area is \u201ca bit of a minefield\u201d for CEOs. This seems an understatement. After all, in the increasingly contentious world in which we live, who is to say which is the right stance to take. Just because a majority appear to favour one direction over another does not necessarily make it right. As Wernicke says, \u201cPeople tend to be happy about intervention when they agree with a stance, less so when they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid all the tumultuous change that has affected business and society in general in recent years one aspect has not received as much attention as it perhaps might have. This is the extent to which big business in particular has ceased to be automatically associated with conservative politics and has instead often allied with more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leadership"},"yoast_head":"\nHow \u2018Activist CEOs\u2019 Can Pick How And Where To Make A Stand | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amid all the tumultuous change that has affected business and society in general in recent years one aspect has not received as much attention as it\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How \u2018Activist CEOs\u2019 Can Pick How And Where To Make A Stand | Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amid all the tumultuous change that has affected business and society in general in recent years one aspect has not received as much attention as it\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-14T14:04:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-14T14:04:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1689343484_0x0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\"},\"headline\":\"How \u2018Activist CEOs\u2019 Can Pick How And Where To Make A Stand\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-14T14:04:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-14T14:04:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103\"},\"wordCount\":926,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Leadership\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103\",\"name\":\"How \u2018Activist CEOs\u2019 Can Pick How And Where To Make A Stand | Brandiary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-14T14:04:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-14T14:04:44+00:00\",\"description\":\"Amid all the tumultuous change that has affected business and society in general in recent years one aspect has not received as much attention as it\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How \u2018Activist CEOs\u2019 Can Pick How And Where To Make A Stand\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"description\":\"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"width\":381,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Brandiary\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How \u2018Activist CEOs\u2019 Can Pick How And Where To Make A Stand | Brandiary","description":"Amid all the tumultuous change that has affected business and society in general in recent years one aspect has not received as much attention as it","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How \u2018Activist CEOs\u2019 Can Pick How And Where To Make A Stand | Brandiary","og_description":"Amid all the tumultuous change that has affected business and society in general in recent years one aspect has not received as much attention as it","og_url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103","og_site_name":"Brandiary","article_published_time":"2023-07-14T14:04:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-14T14:04:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":810,"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1689343484_0x0.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4"},"headline":"How \u2018Activist CEOs\u2019 Can Pick How And Where To Make A Stand","datePublished":"2023-07-14T14:04:43+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-14T14:04:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103"},"wordCount":926,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Leadership"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103","name":"How \u2018Activist CEOs\u2019 Can Pick How And Where To Make A Stand | Brandiary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-07-14T14:04:43+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-14T14:04:44+00:00","description":"Amid all the tumultuous change that has affected business and society in general in recent years one aspect has not received as much attention as it","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=5103#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How \u2018Activist CEOs\u2019 Can Pick How And Where To Make A Stand"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","name":"Brandiary","description":"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization","name":"Brandiary","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","width":381,"height":100,"caption":"Brandiary"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com"],"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5103"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5105,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5103\/revisions\/5105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}