Deciding When to Engage on Societal Issues

This case provides brief descriptions of 18 examples of corporate leaders confronting questions of whether and how to engage with societal issues, including social, political, and environmental issues. Social issues include COVID-19; social and racial justice; discrimination and prejudice; gender, sex, and sexual orientation; and humanitarian crises. Political issues included voting rights, abortion rights, and geopolitical conflict and rivalry. Environmental issues included climate change. The examples took place between 2014 and 2022. The examples are:
1. Delta Airlines/Ed Bastian: Vaccine Mandates (2021)
2. Racial Justice: Starbucks/Howard Schultz: “Race Together” (2015)
3. Merck/Ken Frazier: Charlottesville, President Trump, and Race (2017)
4. Starbucks/Kevin Johnson: Philadelphia Incident (2018)
5. OneTen Initiative: Living Wage Jobs for Black Americans (2020)
6. Tech Leaders: Oppose the Trump Travel Ban (2017)
7. Delta Airlines/Ed Bastian: Rescinding NRA Discounts after the Parkland Shooting (2018)
8. Corporate Leaders: Responding to Anti-Asian Hate (2021)
9. Salesforce.com/Marc Benioff: Indiana Boycott for Religious Freedom Restoration Act (2015)
10. Target/Brian Cornell: North Carolina “Bathroom Bill” (2016)
11. Disney/Bob Chapek: The Florida “Don’t Say Gay” Bill (2022)
12. H&M/Helena Helmersson: China, Uighurs, and Human Rights (2020)
13. Corporate Leaders: Voting Rights and Election Bills (2021)
14. Corporate Leaders: Texas Abortion Ban (2021)
15. Unilever/Alan Jope: Ben & Jerry’s, Israel, and Occupied Palestinian Territory (2021)
16. Google: Ceasing Search in China (2018)
17. Apple/Tim Cook: Data Privacy in China (2021)
18. Amazon/Jeff Bezos: Co-Founding Climate Pledge (2019)