Already a month has passed since Russia initiated the invasion of Ukraine. As I have been busy working on the
#HRForUkraine initiative, I have been struck by the amount of â
corporate activismâ that
immediately started to show in streams of solidarity and direct actions unexpected.
We have seen several different actions overlapping:
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Transparent Activism by CEOs, some not new to taking a stance on burning issues.
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Political and Academic pressure, sometimes also linked to some shareholders on companies to act (an example is the role of prof. Â Jeffrey Sonnenfeld who has created the list at Yale University that is splitting companies into âgoodâ and âbadâ ones in taking a stance on Russia).
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Consumer Activism, whereby consumer pressure groups demand actions, like in the case of Nestlè these days.
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Employee Activism, whereby internal employees demand concrete actions, like in the case of Deloitte and under consulting companies.
In the US, this is underscored by a general tendency by the public to expect companies (and CEOs particularly) to take a stand on important policy issues. According to theÂ
2022 Edelman Trust Barometer:
- 81% believe CEOs should be personally visible when discussing public policy with external stakeholders or their companyâs work to benefit society.
- 60% said that when considering a job, they expect the CEOs to speak out publicly about controversial social and political issues that the prospective employee cares about.
Some latecomers are also evaluating a robust
reputational risk here, as the topic of the invasion of Russia did not go on the traditional division lines of western politics. Most companies have started to quickly think about the
risks to their reputation were they to do nothing. With so many other companies pulling out, it likely seemed better to explain to shareholders and customers back homeÂ
why theyâre leaving thanÂ
why theyâre staying.
However, the question for me is how this links in with topics of
Purpose and
Intentionality that we have been discussing lately.
Purpose as a Guidance for Moral Dilemmas
This quote is by Stacia Garr, co-founder of RedThread Research. This company in 2020 issued
interesting research on Purpose that underscores the necessity for a company to â
publicly share purpose-based actions to normalize themâ.
Focusing on different stakeholders, in alignment with the Purpose and values of an organisation, is critical in moments of crisis such as the one we see now. But decisions are never easy or âblack and whiteâ, especially in situations like the one we face. Leaders have faced Moral Dilemmas every day since the war started, each one requiring intentional action.
Letâs see a few examples.
The situation is extraordinarily challenging for a global brand like ours, and there are many considerations. For 66 years, we have operated with the belief that communities are made better when thereâs a McDonaldâs nearby
[âŚ]
At the same time, our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine. Years ago, when confronted with his own difficult decision, Fred Turner explained his approach quite simply: â
Do the right thing.â That philosophy is enshrined as one of our five guiding values, and there are countless examples over the years of McDonaldâs Corporation living up to Fredâs simple ideal. Today is also one of those days.Â
â Chris Kempczinski, CEO, McDonaldâs
This is how McDonaldâs CEO announced the closure of all McDonaldâs in Russia, a choice impacting more than 62.000 workers. Not easy, also because a significant portion of the stores is not operated directly but through franchising agreements, which has brought additional complexities. Some restaurants still
reported opening two weeks after the decision. The closure is also underlined for its significance because it was one of the first openings to western lifestyles and has triggered immediate reactions by
Russiaâs Duma.
Some companies have instead been taking a different decision, continuing to provide service to Russian customers, based still on assumptions linked to their Purpose and values. So it is the case of Cloudflare. Its CEO has written a long explanation.
Beyond this, we have received several calls to terminate all of Cloudflareâs services inside Russia. We have carefully considered these requests and discussed them with government and civil society experts. Our conclusion, in consultation with those experts, is that Russia needs more Internet access, not less.
As the conflict has continued, weâve seen a dramatic increase in requests from Russian networks to worldwide media, reflecting a desire by ordinary Russian citizens to see world news beyond that provided within Russia.
[âŚ]
In fact, we believe the Russian government would celebrate us shutting down Cloudflareâs services in Russia. We absolutely appreciate the spirit of many Ukrainians making requests across the tech sector for companies to terminate services in Russia. However, when what Cloudflare is fundamentally providing is a more open, private, and secure Internet, we believe that shutting down Cloudflareâs services entirely in Russia would be a mistake.
 â Matthew Prince, Co-founder and CEO, Cloudflare
Two different choices, yet both rooted in strong cultural roots. Both also have tremendous ripple effects on the companiesâ ecosystem, another element to consider.
Which underlines the fact that there is rarely one and only âright thing to doâ. No straightforward answer. And thatâs the entire point of having a Purpose that is a compass for moral and ethical action. It shows a path but does not dictate choices outside of the relationship system with all of the stakeholders at play.
Thinking about Employees
Companies in the food, agricultural, consumer goods, pharma sector are adopting differentiated solutions depending on their product lines. Most have suspended advertising and investments. Many companies have stopped operations in Russia but based instead on supply chain shortages than on the companyâs âpoliticalâ decision. I have been tracking over
450 companies with the #HRForUkraine database to underline the impact of these suspensions on more than 450,000 workers in Russia.