On the one-year anniversary of the Business Roundtable statement on the purpose of a corporation, JUST Capital and its survey research partner The Harris Poll issued the results of a survey asking Americans “how they believe companies are doing in shifting from a myopic focus on shareholders to better serving the needs of all stakeholders.” The poll was conducted online between July 20-22, 2020 among 2,003 U.S. adults aged 18 and older. The 2019 data was provided by YouGov in September 2019 (shortly after the Business Roundtable statement was released) and included 2,000 U.S. adults aged 18 and older.
Top-line results of the survey are as follows:
1. Perceptions of companies’ positive impacts have increased since last year.
Source: JUST Capital, A Year After the Business Roundtable Redefined the Purpose of a Corporation, Americans See Progress But Opportunity for Treating Workers Better (August 2020)
2. While most people believe that companies have an equal responsibility to all of their stakeholders, less than half believe that companies have a positive impact on workers while almost three-quarters believe that companies have a positive impact on their shareholders.
Source: JUST Capital, A Year After the Business Roundtable Redefined the Purpose of a Corporation, Americans See Progress But Opportunity for Treating Workers Better (August 2020)
3. Americans believe that corporations are having the greatest negative impacts on the environment, and the financial and health well-being of their employees.
Source: JUST Capital, A Year After the Business Roundtable Redefined the Purpose of a Corporation, Americans See Progress But Opportunity for Treating Workers Better (August 2020)