CEO Briefing — Business Breakthrough Barometer 2025

Convergence Compass is a learning program for business, government, higher education and civic actors that teaches the psychology of division, dialogue strategies, and collaborative problem-solving. It equips participants to build trust, bridge divides, and engage constructively on contentious issues—even when stakeholders hold strongly divergent views.

OpenSecrets is a nonpartisan, nonprofit transparency platform that tracks money in U.S. politics, compiling and analyzing campaign finance, lobbying, outside spending, and personal finance data for politicians. It offers searchable tools and educational resources that reveal how money flows around elections and policymaking, supporting evidence-based oversight by media, investors, employees, and the public.

This interactive database tracks corporate and individual contributions to 527 political organizations, offering transparency into issue-advocacy groups, political committees, and their funders. It enables stakeholders to analyze donation patterns, compare companies, and evaluate alignment between stated values, lobbying positions, and political spending, supporting stronger governance and oversight of political influence. 

This report reveals a decline in trust, and how majorities now hold grievances against governments, business and the rich. Historically strong trust in “my employer” is complicated when employees hold grievances.  Argues that business should respond in concert with other actors, investing in local communities, quality information, and job skills.    

The White House AI portal lays out a a multi-pronged national strategy to boost U.S. leadership in AI by investing in research, encouraging adoption across industries, and preparing the workforce for AI-driven changes. It highlights a commitment to developing AI responsibly by setting ethical guidelines, ensuring transparency and privacy, and fostering cooperation across government agencies to address risks and build public trust.

This report highlights the growing bridge-building movement in the United States and provides concrete examples of organizations doing this work in different settings, including policymaking, workplaces, faith communities, education, and volunteering.  

A Gallup-Bentley University survey shows that only 38% of U.S. adults believe businesses should take public stances on current events, a decline from 48% the previous year, reflecting a broader trend toward preferring corporate neutrality in political matters. 

The updated B Lab certification standards include a new impact topic on “Government Affairs & Collective Action”, requiring companies to disclose and govern their political engagement, advocacy, lobbying practices and collective initiatives for systems change. The changes raise expectations for transparency and accountability in how firms use their influence and voice.

This framework sets new B Corp certification requirements for responsible lobbying and public policy engagement, including public disclosure of lobbying activities and country-by-country tax reporting. It also mandates that companies engage in at least two collective actions that support social and environmental goals, enhancing transparency and accountability in government affairs as part of fulfilling a beneficial purpose. 

This article explains why major banks are abandoning the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, arguing that economics—not politics—drives the retreat. Despite political backlash, fossil fuels remain highly profitable and low-carbon transitions costly. The authors warn that banks’ short-term incentives and siloed risk management ignore long-term climate risks, exposing investors and markets to systemic instability and stranded assets. 

BSR argues that the traditional “business case” conversation is broken and emphasizes the need for judgment to recognize sustainability’s strategic relevance. Rather than focusing narrowly on ROI, companies should integrate sustainability into core priorities—like innovation, operations, and digital transformation—positioning it as a driver of long-term value for both business and society.

The piece highlights how companies are moving beyond ad hoc responses to social issues by creating internal rules and processes that guide decision-making. These frameworks, alongside executive action and monitoring, are becoming a core part of corporate governance that boards are expected to oversee.

This report identifies 10 top geopolitical risks that could significantly affect companies and markets: (1) global trade protectionism, (2) Middle East regional war, (3) U.S.-China strategic competition, (4) global technology decoupling, (5) major cyber attacks, (6) major terror attacks, (7) Russia-NATO conflict, (8) emerging markets political crisis, (9) North Korea conflict, and (10) European fragmentation. For each risk, the report highlights three assets most sensitive to that scenario—such as sector-specific equities, currencies, credit spreads, or commodities—offering concrete signals businesses can monitor to assess potential impact. This framework helps firms proactively track and integrate geopolitical risk into strategic planning and risk management.

Bloomberg’s new Geopolitical Risk Scores offer a data-driven way for companies to assess how country-level political instability—such as regulatory disruption and civil unrest—could affect operations, supply chains, and compliance. Built with Seerist threat intelligence and covering 7 million companies across 245 countries, the scores quantify 29 types of political, security, and cyber risk. Companies can track, compare, and integrate these risks into strategic planning, disclosure, and portfolio management.

Written as a CPR Independent Study project at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, this report outlines ways to bring CPR concepts into five areas of the business school curriculum, including: Business Law and Ethics Courses, Business Economics and Policy Courses; Finance Courses; Business Strategy Courses; and Business and Society, Social Responsibility and Sustainability Courses. Drawing on the Erb CPR Principles the report outlines detailed suggestions for "caselets" and videos that are most relevant for each topic area, as well as sample discussion questions. 

This annual survey of over 300 global businesses across 50+ countries assesses how the private sector is acting on the net-zero transition, identifying where policy, investment, and system conditions are speeding or slowing progress. It flags how geopolitical volatility and regulatory uncertainty are influencing corporate decisions and how business sees its role in system-wide transformation.

This report reviews over a decade of efforts to protect human rights and human rights defenders, emphasizing the long-standing, widely recognized field in which a variety of actors—including businesses, civil society, investors, and UN bodies—play distinct roles. It highlights progress, ongoing challenges, and the need for businesses to remember the rationale and stay committed to responsible engagement in supporting human rights defenders.

This case examines the challenges multinationals face in pursuing B Corp certification, using Danone as an example. It highlights aligning global operations, governance, and stakeholder engagement with rigorous social and environmental standards, and raises the broader question: What is responsible influence on public policy for companies that have committed to sustainability? 

Philosopher David Silver argues that corporations are not merely profit-seeking entities but moral agents responsible for defending liberal democracy when authoritarian leaders pressure them to comply. Drawing on his book Corporations and Persons: A Theory of the Firm in Democratic Society, Silver contends that businesses must resist coercion, act collectively, and uphold ethical duties that sustain free markets and democratic institutions. 

The article explains that capitalism and open markets can strengthen democracy by fostering pluralism, competition, and opportunities for independent groups to operate outside government control. It argues the bigger risk is when governments capture businesses through regulation, which reduces that independence and weakens democracy.