Productivity & Trade Briefs

While political control of Congress in 2019 is unknown two weeks before Election Day, what is known is the number of S&P 500 companies receiving high scores for political disclosure and accountability continues to increase. That is a major finding of the 2018 CPA-Zicklin Index.

Companies need to build a mechanism to gauge consumers’ preferences for causes and integrate that with a measurement framework across all stakeholders of an organization. Sumair Sayani, vice president at Nielsen and Consumer Dynamics co-Center leader, suggests what this model might look like.

Embedding sustainability into the supply chain makes good business sense. Embracing sustainable procurement practices can help companies manage business risks, achieve costs savings through material efficiency gains, enhance their brand reputation, and manage suppliers more effectively. But success requires a focus on real-world impact rather than inputs and activities.

Center for Political Accountability launched a new campaign on June 22 discussing corporate political spending. The report advises companies on maintaining public image and brand through political expenditures. The Conference Board’s Committee on Corporate Political Spending has more information on the topic, including three published reports.

Populism, nationalism, trade wars, March for Our Lives, and the #MeToo movements, among others, are reshaping how people, governments and nonprofits respond and interact with companies, and with each other. In a recent speech to corporate citizenship professionals in New Orleans, I painted a picture of how our crazy world impacting our roles as corporate philanthropists and responsibility practitioners, as internal and external stakeholders put more pressure on us to show value.

Employee petitions, gender discrimination, #MeToo revelations triggering instant market value freefalls—boards of directors and CEOs are searching for how to get ahead of the next viral business disruption, but they are not alone. Their investors are, too. Increasingly, one source of that disruption is their employees.

This Q&A with Myron Steele discusses the job of the corporate director from his perspective as former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware. He touches on topics like the influence of Delaware law and shareholder engagement on the role of the corporate director.

Director oversight is changing as new crises like data breaches and toxic workplace problems emerge. Shareholders are demanding focused risk management from their board of directors. As a result, boards are now looking for ways to improve meaningful oversight.

Increasing recognition of the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities on portfolio value is driving institutional investors engagement with companies on ESG.

The rise of women relative to men in the labor force—along with the relative increase in female-dominated and generally lower-paying service sector employment—may be one significant reason why wage growth in this economic recovery has not been as fast as expected or what we are used to experiencing. But it’s also a reason why we can think optimistically that the labor market (and our economy’s true capacity) still hasn’t maxed out.