Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • January 31, 2019
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

The Backlash to Larry Fink's Letter Shows How Far Business Has to Go on Social Responsibility

By: Mark R. Kramer
  • Format:Electronic
ShareBar

Abstract

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest investor with $6 trillion under management, evoked heated controversy with his remarks last week that his company would change its hiring and potentially its compensation structure to advance diversity and ensure that five years from now the company is not just “a bunch of white men.” This follows on the heels of his annual letter to CEOs asserting that companies need to embrace a purpose beyond just profit maximization. Critics, according to Fox Business, were swift to accuse Fink’s commitment to diversity as a form of “corporate socialism,” complaining about “the propriety of a public company executive using business resources and his perch as CEO to advance a personal agenda.” It seems one get criticized whenever race is raised as an issue, whether ignoring or promoting diversity. But who is better positioned to lead their firm into the future — the law firm that is perpetuating white male leadership or the investment firm that is disrupting its management by making a serious commitment to diversity? It’s time to stop pretending that business somehow exists in a vacuum that neither affects nor depends on the wellbeing of our society.

Keywords

Diversity; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose

Citation

Kramer, Mark R. "The Backlash to Larry Fink's Letter Shows How Far Business Has to Go on Social Responsibility." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (January 31, 2019).
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Register to Read

About The Author

Mark R. Kramer

→More Publications

More from the Author

    • October 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Engine No. 1: An Activist Hedge Fund Pursues Stakeholder Capitalism (B)

    By: Mark Kramer
    • October 2021 (Revised January 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Engine No.1: An Impact Investing Firm Engages with ExxonMobil

    By: Mark Kramer, Shawn Cole, Vikram S. Gandhi and T. Robert Zochowski
    • July 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Participant Media: Social Impact in Hollywood

    By: Mark R. Kramer
More from the Author
  • Engine No. 1: An Activist Hedge Fund Pursues Stakeholder Capitalism (B) By: Mark Kramer
  • Engine No.1: An Impact Investing Firm Engages with ExxonMobil By: Mark Kramer, Shawn Cole, Vikram S. Gandhi and T. Robert Zochowski
  • Participant Media: Social Impact in Hollywood By: Mark R. Kramer
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College