This chapter introduces a “market failures” approach to business ethics, arguing that while profit is a core obligation, businesses also have a duty to avoid exploiting legal or structural gaps in the market in order to preserve trust, fair competition, and long-term legitimacy.

This toolkit helps B Corps and values-driven companies turn their mission into action through clear steps for engaging in policy advocacy—offering templates, case studies, and guidance on building coalitions, crafting messages, and showing up credibly in the public arena.

This article emphasizes the importance of board oversight in managing corporate political engagement and CEO activism, stressing the need for clear policies to mitigate risks and align political actions with overall business strategy. It highlights growing shareholder expectations for accountability and the potential reputational and financial impacts of CEO public statements. 

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. 

To better understand how businesses are navigating this toxic political environment, Business for America (BFA) surveyed more than 50 business leaders across the country and sectors, from Fortune 500 executives to small business owners. The report reveals widespread concern about escalating political backlash, highlighting the difficult balance companies face between stakeholder demands and risks like boycotts, speech restrictions, and regulatory threats.

Outlines a structured framework for CEOs to disclose 3–5 year strategic plans—financial and non-financial—to long-term investors, helping align sustainability, purpose, and market-facing strategy while demonstrating material impact on stock performance and investor confidence.

This article draws on the Erb Principles for Corporate Political Responsibility to guide companies in navgating social outrage—urging them to ground advocacy in core values, engage employees early to build legitimacy, and embed ethical deliberation into everyday operations rather than issuing reactive or superficial statements.

Twelve short cases to help business educators spark discussion around management dilemmas related to corporate political responsibility. Each caselet includes a few public articles, possible discussion question and links to relevant Principles for Corporate Political Responsibility. Supports the more in-depth report, Bringing CPR into the Business Classroom, by Gabriel Correa Acosta, also available in this Showcase.

This CPR Decision Tool and Executive Conversation Guide is part of a suite of tools and resources that make it easier for companies to take a principled and responsible approach to a specific public affairs decision. Specifically, it is meant to help them apply the Erb Principles for CPR to weigh whether and how to engage in a specific political scenario.

This briefing is the first in a series that applies effective corporate climate engagement to a particular sector - in this case, transportation. The brief provides five key facts board directors need to know about corporate climate policy engagement in relation to road transport; a snapshot of the current policy and corporate advocacy landscape for road transport and five steps board directors can take to support effective corporate climate policy engagement in the automotive and trucking industries.

A guide to selected video clips (and some transcripts) from the Erb Institute’s Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce (CPRT) Expert Dialogues hosted from March 2021 to April 24, featuring conversations with a diverse range of advocates, experts and executives from across the political spectrum, to explore what it means for companies to use their political influences responsibly. A very useful resource for educators, practitioners and associations to spark conversation and action. All clips are coded with keywords for easy selection by topic.

This tracker provides an overview of federal and state investigations into corporate ESG practices, highlighting lawsuits over misleading ESG claims by firms like BlackRock, government probes requesting information from asset managers and climate organizations, and legislative efforts aimed at limiting ESG considerations in investing. It offers essential insight into the shifting legal and reputational risks companies face in ESG governance.

Presents a framework for when companies should present forceful or tempered political positions based on their publicly stated values and materiality.

This HBR collection offers practical guidance on how companies can engage with social and political issues at work, from CEO activism to employee dialogue, and includes a piece by Ed Dolan that highlights the Erb Principles as a framework for responsible corporate political engagement.

As a company’s engagement in social and political issues becomes increasingly fraught, this article lays out decision-making principles companies can use to determine whether and when to engage in social and political issues.

This article explores how political identity is increasingly shaping workplace dynamics and offers a leadership strategy grounded in setting clear norms, proactively addressing tensions, and fostering inclusive dialogue—an approach aligned with Third Side principles of navigating conflict through shared understanding and long-term organizational strength.

Ex ante regulation modeled on the FDA enhances public safety by rigorously assessing AI systems before deployment to prevent harm, while providing industry with clear, consistent standards that build consumer trust, reduce costly post-release failures, and foster sustainable innovation.

Tells the story of Alaska’s landmark adoption of open primaries and ranked-choice voting, showing how these reforms empowered broader voter participation, curbed partisan gatekeeping, and led to more representative, cross-partisan governance—offering a powerful blueprint for restoring trust in democracy.

This piece argues that capitalism’s existing rules often deepen inequality and systemic risks, but by changing those rules to focus on upfront redistribution of wealth, power, and opportunity—a “predistribution” approach—inequality can be meaningfully reduced. It urges institutional investors to lead reforms that reshape capitalism for a fairer, more resilient economy instead of reacting only after crises occur.

As investors increasingly focus on systemic risks, few risks are as consequential as the weakening of democratic institutions and the rule of law -- or today’s once-in-a-generation operational and strategic challenges from AI, an increasingly chaotic political environment, and more.  Yet, as an investor, it can be difficult to translate these systemic risks into concrete actions. Focusing on public affairs governance – how companies make decisions about whether and when to engage in the public sphere, can be one helpful lens.

This new tool from Third Side Strategies helps investors to ask sharper questions—of companies and of themselves. It introduces the concept of CPR Governance (a set of best practices for whether and when to engage in the public sphere) which helps investors in two ways: (i) prompting companies to think more concretely about their public affairs practices and strengthen any areas of weakness highlighted by the questions, and (ii) providing investors the information needed to more effectively manage this systemic risk across their portfolio.

This playbook sets out practical guidance for companies on how to optimise their indirect “policy footprint”. It covers how to assess and improve associations' alignment and impact, by clarifying their strategic policy priorities, evaluating where to invest in important trade association relationships, and engaging those associations constructively and effectively. 

This article argues that Modern Portfolio Theory falls short in today’s interconnected and complex risk landscape, calling for “system-level investing” that integrates social, environmental, and economic factors to boost long-term resilience and sustainability.

Provides a framework for boards to manage the reputational, legal, and financial risks of political spending, including misalignment with public commitments, shareholder backlash, and regulatory scrutiny. Emphasizes the need for transparency and alignment with a company’s stated objectives and strategic goals. 

This report reviews how 17 jurisdictions regulate corporate political engagement, highlighting gaps in transparency, oversight, and accountability. It calls for stronger governance and investor involvement to prevent undue influence.

Dominic Barton, Mark Wiseman, Laurence Fink, Richard Edelman, Henry M. Paulson Jr., Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Nicholas Carr, Nitin Nohria, Paul Polman, Whitney MacMillan, Greg Page, Chanda Kochhar, Kathleen McLaughlin, Doug McMillon, Adrian Orr, John D. Rogers, Lim Chow Kiat, Euan Munro, Charles Tilley, Lei Zhang, Michael Sabia, James P. Gorman, David Walker, Angel Gurría, Ronald P. O’Hanley, Donald Kaberuka, Julie Hembrock Daum, Edward Speed, Angelien Kemna

This report compiles insights from CEOs, investors, and regulators emphasizing how quarterly earnings pressure and misaligned incentives restrict long-term strategic thinking, and it proposes governance reforms to realign business purpose with sustainable, multi-stakeholder value creation.

This Pew Research report highlights inflation, healthcare affordability, and the federal budget deficit as top economic concerns shaping public grievances and trust in business, with money in politics emerging as a critical related issue undermining confidence in institutions.

Patricia McLagan is an author, consultant, and business owner with fifty years’ experience supporting large scale change processes in business and governments globally. From 1983 through 2004, Pat consulted with major South African businesses, government entities, universities, and parastatals, and chaired the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation after returning to the US. This article draws on her personal experience with South African businesses and government entities from 1983 into the 2010s, focusing on what some white South African business leaders did in a time of polarization and potential civil war. 

This report provides historical context on how business–government dynamics have contributed to rising inequality and public distrust, and invites business leaders to rethink their role in helping restore trust and shape a more inclusive, sustainable capitalism.

Investors showed clear market interest in long-term plans—particularly those with specific, forward-looking disclosures on strategy, trends, and financials—while vague or missing information on governance and ESG weakened impact, highlighting the need for more accountable, investor-relevant corporate communication to counter short-term market focus.

Developed with Erb Institute’s Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce, in consultation with academics and over 40 stakeholder groups from across the political spectrum, the Erb Principles for CPR offer a thought process for non-partisan, defensible decisions in turbulent times.  The principles of legitimacy, accountability, responsibility, and transparency provide actionable and non-partisan approach to weighing when, how and why to engage in political affairs, to manage risk and advance long-term value creation for business and society. 

This article outlines CEO activism and its influence, risks, and rewards. Authors reference research to assert that CEOs must strategically decide when and how to engage with social and political issues. The included playbook provides insight on how to go about engagement for positive impact. By raising awareness and leveraging economic power, CEOs can embrace transparency and accountability to their company values.

Joe Zammit‑Lucia argues that in today’s world, politics and business are deeply connected, and companies need strong “political antennae”—a keen understanding of societal values, regulations, and consumer expectations—to succeed. Drawing on global case studies, he shows how pressures from stakeholders, investors, and regulators require firms to embed political awareness into their purpose, strategy, and daily operations to build trust and resilience.

An introduction to Third Side Strategies, including the rationale for focusing on CPR Governance to enable long-term value for business and society. Outlines the main motivations -- including Risk Management, Long-term Value Creation, and Supporting Business Purpose and Fiduciary Duty. Includes the main services offered and how to get involved

This guide outlines nine clear pathways—like net-zero emissions, circular economy, and inclusive societies—across key sectors including energy, mobility, food, and manufacturing, providing businesses a strategic roadmap to embed sustainability in governance and operations for a thriving 2050 within planetary limits.

The book opens by establishing the minimum expectation that businesses support the right rules of the game—those rewarding long-term value creation rather than destruction—and shows how companies can live their values through cross-sector collaboration, eco-efficiency, and strategies advancing prosperity, planet, and people, supported by real-world cases.

This research paper provides data that shows the costs to companies of deciding not to speak up on certain issues and the negative stakeholder response to such decisions. The researchers theorize whether and when consumers will negatively respond to corporate silence on a social issue based on the visibility of silence.