VideoCorporate Political Responsibility Taskforce

What Managers and Companies Can Do

Video 3 of 3

 

On November 11, 2021, we spoke with Karthik Ramanna of the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford to explore “Corporate Political Responsibility in ‘Thin’ Political Markets.”

Although there may be risks when businesses take responsibility for social issues, individual managers may still want to participate in activism. How can managers engage in the public sphere responsibly and effectively?

In this module, we explore:

  • What role can exist for individual managers, in both their roles as citizens and within their firms?

The Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce (CPRT)’s Expert Dialogues are in-depth, recorded conversations with academic experts, stakeholder advocates and business practitioners to provide our members and other CPR champions with the expertise and context they need to develop principled, proactive CPR strategies. We invite those interested in a constructive, non-partisan, principles-based discussion.

Karthik Ramanna is a Professor of Business and Public Policy and Director of the Master of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. In his 2015 paper with Rebecca Henderson, "Do Managers Have a Role to Play in Sustaining the Institutions of Capitalism?", Professor Ramanna argues that managers must define CPR differently in “thin” political markets. That is, where the public is not fully informed or adequately represented in decision-making, responsible corporate political influence must shift from narrow business interests to concern for the system overall

The full transcript for this module is available here. 

KEYWORDS: #CorporatePoliticalResponsibility #ESG #CivicEngagement #ClimatePolicy #LongTermValue

 

More Resources

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BookHarvard University Press

Advances the argument that American CEOs, seemingly more powerful today than ever, have abrogated the key leadership role they once played in addressing national challenges, with grave consequences for American society. 

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Widely accepted multi-sector framework outlining expectations for companies to evaluate and disclose their commitment to human rights, identify salient issues, identifying processes for responding to claims, conducting due diligence and identifying strategies to prevent, mitigate or remediate adverse impacts on individuals and communities. Supports corporate political responsibility by outlining political rights as human rights, and providing established processes to draw on. 

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

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