Top CEOs say companies should put social responsibility above profit

[Tawpgun]

Thought this was pretty interesting.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ial-responsibility-above-profit-idUSKCN1V91EK

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Companies should focus on social responsibilities as well as profits, the Business Roundtable, a group of corporate chief executives that includes the head of the largest U.S. bank and the CEO of the world's largest airline, said on Monday.

The statement of corporate purpose, which shifts from shareholder primacy, was signed by the heads of more than 180 U.S. companies, including the CEOs of Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), American Airlines (AAL.O), the largest airline in the world; and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), the biggest American bank.

The statement marks the first time the nearly 50-year-old group has said shareholder value is not the No. 1 one priority. It comes at a time when companies are increasingly taking stances on issues outside of the corporate sphere due to pressure from activists amplified over social media and calls from their own employees.

"This new statement better reflects the way corporations can and should operate today," Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky said in a news release. "It affirms the essential role corporations can play in improving our society when CEOs are truly committed to meeting the needs of all stakeholders."

The statement outlines five priorities, including commitments to invest in employees by providing fair wages and "important benefits," support communities where they operate and dealing ethically with suppliers.

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I know, I know, talk is cheap. But I do hope we will actually see some better strides in corporate responsibility. There does seem to be more pressure not just from the millennial generation, but increasingly from Gen Z where young people are getting fed up with capitalism running unchecked for too long.

 

[RDreamer]

Should.

Spoiler: But they won't.

 

[Pancho]

I'll believe it when I see it TBH

 

[Cort]

Larry Merlo signed it.

It ain't happening, Chief.

 

[Dolobill]

How to look good without doing anything.

 

[ReAxion]

when you're trying to self-regulate before the proles get your ass

 

[Vic Damone Jr.]

Lying ass motherfuckers

 

[oreomunsta]

I want to see them put their money where their mouth is, and not their shareholder's pocket

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

Is "social responsibility" an actual thing or just a meaningless word that is being used?

 

[Spenny]

Then they undermine what they say with lobbying

 

[Gemüsepizza]

Lmao. They are fucking lying.

 

[Deleted member 8861]

That's the naivete that gets the public but it won't happen because capitalism has more rewards for profiteering than for ethical behaviour.

 

[Realyst]

Five minutes later...

 

[Gunny T Highway]

Nice joke corporate man.

 

[Deleted member 8593]

Top CEOs heard saying "sike" under their breath

 

[Deleted member 12224]

Michigan Supreme Court has said otherwise. (poor 2L memory on an afternoon)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_v._Ford_Motor_Co

.

 

[shnurgleton]

if it weren't for all these gosh darned shareholders

 

[Deleted member 2145]

"ok good, that bought us at least 5 years"

 

[krazen]

LOL. They know its only a matter of time before the paid for politicians spiel of, 'Hey, its the gays/ trans/ blacks/ Latinos/ muslims/ asians fault you're poor' jig is going to be up and that building a guillotine using home depot items is surprisingly affordable.

Speaking of which, its why I get confused at the 'MY healthcare/ boss/ mortgage/rent/ college loans are great, why change?' crowd as if this societal instability won't eventually affect them too.

 

[MetatronM]

"Not my company, though."

 

[Surakian]

It's interesting that many of these listed companies are the ones who are the biggest players in mistreating employees 8D

 

[Squarehard]

Stating and doing the obvious are two very different things.

 

[Ocean Bones]

Say one thing do another. Shut up.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

They absolutely should.

But they won't because, at the end of the day, the bottom line is more important than any sort of responsibility. Capitalism is a plague.

 

[GK86]

"And then we told them we will be more socially responsible."

*Laughter*

 

[Jogi]

Lol. This is worse than the political lies leading up to campaign season.

 

[SwampBastard]

Investors: "Fuck off!"

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

LMAO

 

[NinjaScooter]

They all became "Top CEOs" by not doing that though.

 

[Gyro Zeppeli]

They say that now, knowing that there's a strong possibility that Warren will be coming for their asses hard.

 

[Izzard]

CEOs put shareholders first, people here show hate.

CEOs start thinking about ways they can help society, people here show hate.

Personally I think this is a step in the right direction, and I'm hopeful it'll bring about some changes that benefit employees first and foremost.

 

[Deleted member 48897]

 

[GuyIncognito]

Misleading thread title.

Title says "above" while literally first sentence is "as well as." Big difference, and the actual message makes a lot more sense.

 

[Byakuya769]

President Warren will be ready to walk hand-in-hand with these leaders and their concerns.

I'm sure they'll still be as serious about this when real legislation can happen on corporate mandates.

 

[Shadybiz]

What a nice thing to say.

 

[Gyro Zeppeli]

CEOs put shareholders first, people here show hate.

CEOs start thinking about ways they can help society, people here show hate.

Personally I think this is a step in the right direction, and I'm hopeful it'll bring about some changes that benefit employees first and foremost.

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It's because time and time again their actions have shown otherwise. Amazon raised their starting wage to $15/hour, and removed stock options in exchange. Their words are empty, and they don't truly give a fuck.

 

[lmcfigs]

they will not

 

[WGMBY]

I'll believe it when I see it.

I mean, it's been obvious for a long time that many companies can afford to offer better services and pay their workers more while still making a tidy profit, but they won't do that because then they can't show year over year growth and profit increases.

 

[Futureman]

CEOs put shareholders first, people here show hate.

CEOs start thinking about ways they can help society, people here show hate.

Personally I think this is a step in the right direction, and I'm hopeful it'll bring about some changes that benefit employees first and foremost.

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There's pretty much no reason to trust that they'll implement changes to help workers. So there's really nothing to get excited about until actual, beneficial changes are made imo.

 

[Kraid]

Should.

Spoiler: But they won't.

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If they're publicly traded they're legally obliged to increase shareholder wealth so...

 

[Deleted member 48897]

CEOs start thinking about ways they can help society, people here show hate.

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The time for thinking passed like a fucking decade ago when the financial crisis hit. The crisis is now in perpetua because almost nobody has any savings. Act now or perish, motherfuckers. Better you than the people you exploit.
JPMorgan's on this list, which is funny considering they got hit with another big ol' scandal just the other day. And of course were a major architect in the bad fiscal management that gave us that crisis in the first place.

 

[Barn]

They should. And they could, while still being disgustingly rich. They could, while still making more money than anyone could reasonably spend in a lifetime.

But they won't. Because they need all of the money, and fuck you. Also, fuck the entirety of our civilization and fuck our planet.

 

[FeliciaFelix]

More context https://fortune.com/longform/business-roundtable-ceos-corporations-purpose/

The business world has seen the writing on the wall. More importantly, 90% of shitty decisions in America is because short term goals above long term profits.

More importantly it's a repudiation of Milton Friedman policies. The faster his ideas die and stopped being studied in school, the better off humanity will be.

 

[A Syrian Communist]

Lmao yeah ok guys

 

[Htown]

So do it.

 

[Deleted member 8468]

Actions speak louder.

 

[GuyIncognito]

If they're publicly traded they're legally obliged to increase shareholder wealth so...

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No, they're legally obligated to do what their shareholders tell them to prioritize. A lot of big institutional shareholders (pensions, etf's, etc) are increasingly focused on social issues in addition to just returns.

In some ways it's an unintended consequence of the shift to ETF's and passive investment - if you're vanguard for example, you aren't actually paid to generate outsized returns, you just have to own everything. And since they are so big, they end up owning a lot of everything, giving them a lot of influence over corporate boards, priorities, etc. without actually being incentivized to maximize returns. Instead, since they by definition can't differentiate on returns, they want a good marketing story to sell, and pushing social and environmental issues is a good marketing story.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

Until their wealth can no longer afford them extreme comfort that makes it easy to forget about the lives of the rest of us, this will never change.

 

[dragonchild]

Talk is free. And as long as it's also free of liability, CEOs will say whatever.

Until you do something about it it just adds to your two-faced reputations, you cheap sociopaths.

 

[Kommodore]

Welp, that's not good when virtually every response to this is "bullshit". It's gotten so bad at the highest levels, profits over everything, that it's threatening the stability of society/economy. If businesses are beholden to shareholders who only want an ever-upward trajectory in profit, regardless of what corners and fairness they need to cut to get there, it's only a matter of time till something breaks and threatens a whole bunch of people's livelihood/housing/economic opportunities. 2008 crash should have been an easy lesson to pull from and regulation should have been enforced prudently to prevent another crash. But time and time again we see the argument for regulation vs deregulation show they aren't willing to put their money where their mouth is and regulate themselves in regards to social responsibility. Make penalties seriously bite these large corporations for once where profits and missed because they did something against the rules. Stop allowing power to coalesce with all these large corporate mergers, and cut them in half or more if they corner too much of a market. Economy/profits keep getting too heavy at the top and it's unsustainable in the long term. I hope they are seeing that and reacting to it for once, but like the response, so many are giving to this, this shit can't be a handshake deal anymore. Oh, you promise? Ok! No, we need to make them far more accountable than that.