CEO ACTIVISM IN 2017:
HIGH NOON IN
THE C-SUITE
CEO Activism in 2017: High Noon in the C-Suite2
INTRODUCTION
In June 2016, Weber Shandwick and KRC Research released research about the
American public’s awareness of and attitudes toward CEOs speaking out on important
societal issues. We conducted the study at a time when we observed a rise in CEOs
taking public positions on societal issues that were not overtly tied to their bottom lines.
Many of these early activist stands were related to legislation enacted in various states
that affected the LGBT community. In the research,
The Dawn of CEO Activism,
we
found that a sizeable, but minority, segment of Americans believe that CEOs have a duty
to speak up on contentious issues, favour CEOs who voice their opinions and are likely
to buy products/services from companies that take stands.1 However, we also learned
that public opinion works both ways: Many Americans disagree with CEOs taking stands
on hot-button issues and are less likely to buy products/services from companies whose
CEOs do so. We concluded that CEO activism comes with both risks and rewards for
CEOs and their companies.
Since conducting that research, the business climate changed dramatically and it has
grown harder for some companies to leave politics to the politicians. The tipping point
came early in President Donald J. Trump’s new administration. On January 27, 2017, the
president issued an executive order temporarily banning travel to the U.S. from seven
predominantly Muslim countries. Many CEOs spoke out against the entry ban, social
media lit up, protests erupted worldwide and media attention exploded. Similarly, many
companies and CEOs spoke out after the president announced that the U.S. would
withdraw from the Paris climate accord.
To continue to provide counsel to clients on how businesses might respond to the policies
of the new administration, Weber Shandwick collected 153 corporate responses to the
executive order and found that 84% were issued directly by CEOs and 73% voiced a clear
opinion against the ban. CEOs did not stand on the sidelines as pressure from stakeholders
intensifed, demanding greater accountability from those at the top.2
The Washington Post
describes Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn as having said that the corporate
response to the travel ban compares to nothing else in scale or swiftness.3
OUR SURVEY DESCRIBED CEO ACTIVISM AS FOLLOWS:
In the past year or so, some CEOs have spoken out publicly and taken a
stand on controversial issues. For example, CEOs have spoken up
about social, political and environmental issues, such as
climate change, income fairness, same-sex marriage,
immigration, gun control and discrimination.The Dawn of CEO Activism
, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2016. 2
Business Response to the President’s Executive Order on Immigration, Weber Shandwick, 2017.3
“The Cost of Silence: Why More CEOs Are Speaking Out in the Trump Era,”
The Washington Post
, February 17, 2017.
CEO Activism in 2017: High Noon in the C-Suite3
Given the wave of CEOs taking more public positions on societal issues, Weber
Shandwick refreshed
The Dawn of CEO Activism
research in 2017 to see if perspectives
on CEO activism changed over the past year. Looking at the American public overall, we
learned that perspectives on CEO activism have not changed since 2016. That, however,
is a surface fnding: We found unmistakable signs generationally that cannot be ignored
by business leaders. Millennials (ages 18–36) outpaced their elder peers on three key
metrics: awareness of CEO activism, favourability toward CEOs speaking out and likelihood
of buying from a company whose CEO speaks out on hot-button issues. Millennials, a
highly desirable employee and consumer market, are generally more positive about activist
CEOs than Gen Xers (ages 37–52) and Boomers (ages 53–71).
As we have witnessed over the past
year, CEO activism is alive and well. Our
new research on this trend refects a
strong enthusiasm among the Millennial
generation for CEOs speaking out. In
assessing the risks as well as the rewards
that come with taking public positions, the
infuence of Millennials cannot be ignored.
For companies looking to attract this young
generation in terms of sales, recruitment
and spreading word of mouth, CEO
activism is hard to overlook.
Leslie Gaines-Ross, Chief Reputation Strategist,
Weber Shandwick
Why do Millennials support CEO activism We can only speculate in broad
generalisations, but several sources help frame key differences in the generations. A 2014
Pew Social Trends report shows that the Millennial generation is politically active (although
detached from organised politics).4 They’re more supportive of gay marriage, legal
marijuana and social institutions. They are also America’s most racially diverse generation.
In all of these dimensions, they are different from today’s older generations back when
they were the age Millennials are now. Coupling these differences with their
immersion in social media from an early age, they have more confdence in the power of
networks and connectedness to make change.
“
4 “Millennials in Adulthood,” Pew Social Trends, March 4, 2014.
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