Thought Leader Interview: Sarah Kaplan
How do you define a 360˚ Corporation?
Nine years ago, I created a course at the Rotman School called “Corporation 360°”, because I wanted to take a hard look at the stakeholders that surround companies from every direction — all 360 degrees. Since then, my students and I have been thinking a lot about the role of the corporation in society, and what companies can do to deal with the trade-offs created by stakeholder needs that conflict with their bottom line.
The fact is, meeting stakeholder demands requires actions that might compromise profits. Things like improving worker conditions, investing in environmental advances, creating talent pipelines for marginalized communities and putting an end to polluting activities are costly endeavours, in terms of time and money and in terms of organizational disruption.
Despite these challenges, corporate leaders have begun to demand action from their colleagues. In 2017, Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock (which manages over $1 trillion in assets), wrote an open letter to CEOs in which he said, in part, “Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.”
Today, we are no closer to a quick solution, but I have distilled some key principles for action. What I’m trying to point out is that corporate social responsibility is closely connected to the trade-offs that are embedded in your business model.
You believe that trade-offs between stakeholders exist in virtually every business model.
