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    High tariffs, immigration crackdown, funding cuts: BU professor warns of ‘Trump Trifecta’ 

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Madeleine Dean demand food and beverage CEOs put a stop to ‘shrinkflation’ 

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    Boston dockworkers among thousands on strike nationwide 

    High tariffs, immigration crackdown, funding cuts: BU professor warns of ‘Trump Trifecta’ 

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Madeleine Dean demand food and beverage CEOs put a stop to ‘shrinkflation’ 

    Mass. leaders worried for seniors and kids as Trump agenda bill clears House 

    What Is ‘Big Law?’ 

    Stop Making Cents: US Mint Moves Forward With Plans to Kill the Penny 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Could the GPT Store Turn ChatGPT into a Platform Powerhouse? 

    The Right Amount of Cards, Cash and ID to Carry in Your Wallet

    The ‘Best and Final’ Job Offer Usually Isn’t Final. How You Can Negotiate 

    From Hollywood to the Hardware Store: The Real-World Impact of a 100% Tariff 

    From Hollywood to the Hardware Store: The Real-World Impact of a 100% Tariff 

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

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    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    Tariffs and Their Economic Impact

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

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    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

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    Life After Cookies: Who Uses Google’s Privacy Sandbox? – Garrett Johnson

    Life After Cookies: Who Uses Google’s Privacy Sandbox? – Garrett Johnson

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    Real Estate Ripples from a Landmark Settlement

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    The Hidden Wisdom of Cultural Pushback

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    Fusion Strategy: Navigating the Industrial Evolution

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    Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Madeleine Dean demand food and beverage CEOs put a stop to ‘shrinkflation’ 

    Mass. leaders worried for seniors and kids as Trump agenda bill clears House 

    What Is ‘Big Law?’ 

    Stop Making Cents: US Mint Moves Forward With Plans to Kill the Penny 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Could the GPT Store Turn ChatGPT into a Platform Powerhouse? 

    The Right Amount of Cards, Cash and ID to Carry in Your Wallet

    The ‘Best and Final’ Job Offer Usually Isn’t Final. How You Can Negotiate 

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

    In a ‘work-from-anywhere’ world, where are people working?

    79,000 lost jobs. $13 billion in GDP gone. Study tallies potential hit to Mass. from Trump’s ‘economic attack.’

    The Hidden Risk of Getting Paid in Stock Options 

    Trump Administration Cancels Scores of Grants to Study Online Misinformation 

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    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Leading Global Teams Effectively 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Research: When Prototypes Don’t Yield Useful Insights 

    Transforming Products into Platforms: Unearthing New Avenues for Business Innovation

    Transforming Products into Platforms: Unearthing New Avenues for Business Innovation

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    We’re Still Lonely at Work

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Home Opinion

Should Companies Refrain From Making Political Statements?

MIT Sloan Management Review

Timothy SimcoebyTimothy Simcoe
May 31, 2023
in Opinion, Sloan Management Review
23
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Should Companies Refrain From Making Political Statements?

A protester displays a placard during a rally in front of the Chinese Consulate in Manila's financial district on July 10, 2015, calling to boycott products made in China and denouncing China's claim to most of the South China Sea including areas claimed by the Philippines. The Philippines on July 7 appealed to an international tribunal to declare China's claims to most of the South China Sea illegal, warning the integrity of United Nations' maritime laws is at stake. China insists it has sovereign rights to nearly all of the South China Sea, a strategically vital waterway with shipping lanes through which about a third of all the world's traded oil passes. AFP PHOTO / Jay DIRECTO (Photo credit should read JAY DIRECTO/AFP via Getty Images)

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May 31, 2023

MIT SMR Strategy Forum recently published an article featuring Timothy Simcoe, Professor of Strategy and Innovation, discussing whether companies should refrain from making political statements.

Two years ago, soccer organization UEFA attempted to opt out of taking a political stance — a decision that was itself decried as a political statement. In an MIT Sloan Management Review Strategy Forum, panelists responded to the statement: The diametric experiences of Disney and UEFA illustrate that firms should refrain from making political statements in support of particular stakeholders. Simcoe was one of the 7% of panelists who agreed that companies should refrain from making political statements. It has become an unwelcome yet unavoidable reality for some companies that they are under pressure to vote on activist shareholder proposals despite the risk of backlash from a multitude of stakeholders and observers.

Simcoe states, “The lesson is not to avoid things that might be unavoidable but to think ahead and develop a clear set of values to guide managers’ actions and statements in those circumstances.”

Source: Should Companies Refrain From Making Political Statements?
Via: MIT Sloan Management Review
Tags: Business Educationmedia mentionTimothy Simcoe
Timothy Simcoe

Timothy Simcoe

Timothy S. Simcoe is Professor of Strategy and Innovation at the Boston University Questrom School of Business, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a faculty director of BU’s Technology Policy Research Initiative. From 2014 to 2015, he served as a Senior Economist on President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. Professor Simcoe’s research focuses on innovation, industry standards, intellectual property, and technology policy. He has published in the American Economic Review, Management Science, the RAND Journal of Economics, Organization Science, and the Journal of Applied Econometrics. He is an associate editor at Management Science, American Economic Journal: Policy, and the Journal of Industrial Economics. Professor Simcoe has consulted and testified as an expert witness in disputes involving standard essential patent licensing and pharmaceutical patent infringement

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