In "Politics in the Boardroom: Which Side Are You On?", Woodruff Sawyer's Priya Huskins recaps some of the more recent, headline-grabbing corporate political controversies to provide context to the firm's sound guidance to boards to establish an understanding and a process with management as to who the ultimate decision-maker is on whether to take a position on a politically or socially controversial issue, and what that decision-making process will entail.
The article makes a strong case for addressing this potentiality proactively rather than on a wait-and-see basis given the continued uptick in politicization of issues and CEO, employee, and consumer activism. More generally, the firm appropriately characterizes this as a potentially significant reputational risk management issue that all companies should prepare for in advance.
See these recent reports: "Employee Activism: The Next New Normal?", "Employee Activism: State of Play," "CEO Activism: Here's How!", and "Communications/Marketing Execs Favor CEO Activism," and additional information & resources on our Risk Management & Oversight page. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!