At a time when chief executives are taking a more aggressive role in the political arena, a new report shows Americans increasingly believe such tactics gets results.
About 48 percent of Americans believe a CEO’s input can influence the federal government, up 10 points from a year ago, and some 38 percent view such activity positively, a seven-point increase from the last year of the Obama administration, according to a survey by public relations firm Weber Shandwick.
“While most CEOs are not accustomed to participating in the political arena, they and their companies need to be prepared to navigate these uncharted waters, whether they remain silent or not,” Weber Shandwick CEO Andy Polansky said in a statement.
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From gun rights to immigration and healthcare, business leaders are more forcefully speaking out under the Trump administration on issues that they believe run counter to company values. U.S. airlines, for example, criticized President Trump’s decision to separate migrant children from their parents and refused to provide transportation to assist with the initiative.
“The world’s in a position that people are retreating rather than coming in a more unified manner,” Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said during a recent discussion at the National Press Club. “Business leaders increasingly today are being called into that vacuum to speak and to let people know where we stand on topics.”
Despite its business-friendly approach, however, the current administration has ignored corporate opposition on a number of issues, including sweeping new sanctions on steel and aluminum imports. Business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have fought Trump’s protectionist policies to no avail so far, with the president remaining convinced that the duties are “great.”
Trump himself has long broken with the tradition of his White House predecessors by publicly meddling in corporate decisions, blasting companies from retailer Nordstrom, for dropping daughter Ivanka Trump’s clothing line, to Boeing, which he said was charging too much for a new Air Force One jet.
Trump’s Twitter post criticizing Pfizer’s decision to raise costs, for example, led to a slight dip in the pharmaceutical manufacturer’s stock price.
Weber Shandwick’s survey, done in conjunction with KRC Research, questioned 1,006 U.S. adults over the age of 18 in May.
