The nearly equally politically divided United States means companies are likely to upset 50% of their stakeholders at any time. In today’s political and social landscape, business is often pulled into the issues of the day — wanted or not. The best course is to be ready, act boldly and proceed with purpose.
We know trust in the U.S. has taken a nosedive, especially in government and...
This summer, many Americans found themselves misty-eyed as the documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? paid tribute to the vision and legacy of Fred Rogers. As director Morgan Neville explains, “In a much more cynical age that we live in today and to be confronted by such emotional sincerity is overwhelming and ultimately, I think, kind of cathartic… . He’s explaining to these unformed people...
Demands on companies and their CEOs to take stands on social issues ranging from immigration to climate change, gun rights to gay rights, Brexit to global trade, have rapidly accelerated in the past two years.
Additionally, companies are now being urged by many investors to demonstrate positive social impact. In his widely reported letter to CEOs this past January, BlackRock’s Larry...
The summer before I started the master’s program at Annenberg, my father, CEO of a tech startup, asked me, “Are you aware that technology will soon replace PR and marketing workers like yourself and other interns?”
I replied, “You mean those customer service robots that are not so helpful will replace my job? There’s so much strategic thinking behind PR and marketing that I’m not...
As a baby boomer, I believe we have a responsibility to set an example for the generations who follow us. However, none of us can do this alone. The past few years have been tumultuous times for our country and the divisiveness that we see in the halls of government is focused more on being heard and less on finding solutions.
The rhetoric of divisiveness is also present on college...
After Queen Elizabeth welcomed a bi-racial American woman into the Royal Family in May 2018, the crowds that gathered along the English roadsides to get a glimpse of the newlyweds — along with the reported 2 billion worldwide TV viewers — were witnessing a global phenomenon: Multi-cultural relationships are reshaping Western culture.
Buying power
Social and cultural acceptance...
In 2010, in a case known as Citizens United, the Supreme Court held that corporations should be afforded the same First Amendment freedoms of speech rights as people. The main outcome was that corporations were allowed to behave like private citizens, contributing unlimited money to the political campaigns of their choosing.
Eight years later, Nike released on Twitter and other owned...
A frequently shared video from Davos 2018 showed Alibaba founder Jack Ma warning audiences to change the way they teach, otherwise 30 years from now we will all be in trouble. “Everything we teach should be different from machines,” he warned. The earliest audience for Jack Ma’s prophetic statement looks to be the communications industry, as this summer Alibaba announced its AI copywriter — a...