The Corporate Social Mind

German Research Report

Introduction

Germans are in a vigorous debate about the overall purpose of business and its role in society. In September, a petition for a new corporate legal status, a steward-owned company, captured the attention of Germans. In addition, larger companies and investors especially show a growing interest in ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) reporting frameworks and in the informal competition among some companies to be more sustainable than others.

Though some companies in Germany began exploring their purpose and role in society before COVID-19, the pandemic pushed them and others into real action. Companies increased donations to public and nonprofits efforts, retooled equipment to produce masks or disinfectants and used logistics systems to distribute food to families and supplies to hospitals. The question now is whether company leaders took these actions primarily for image rather than as authentic societal engagement. Can German companies maintain a holistic perspective on doing business? Do consumers expect them to?

We anticipated much of this in our new book, The Corporate Social Mind. Now, this report reveals that US and German consumers, though thousands of miles apart, have similar expectations of and high hopes for companies to influence the social issues that affect our lives and our planet.

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Definitions

Social Mindset: A perspective that approaches decisions and actions with an understanding of their impact on society (e.g., police reform, hunger, discrimination, immigration).

Corporate Social Mind: A new book, The Corporate Social Mind: How Companies Lead Social Change From the Inside Out, delineates eight traits companies must develop to have a corporate social mindset: 1) decide with society in mind, 2) live the company’s values, 3) use resources for society’s benefit, 4) listen before acting, 5) have a social voice, 6) lead social collectives, 7) measure social impact and 8) innovate for social good.

Conjoint Analysis: A statistical technique used to determine what combination of attributes most influences a decision.

Purpose

This study documents German expectations of business as a pandemic threatens pubic health, concern about climate change grows and the debate about inequality focuses on race.

We must point out that German companies have a relationship with their government that is distinct from that of American businesses. The social-issue efforts of the private and civil society are “rather closely connected” to activities by the German federal government. Sofidel summed up the social issue atmosphere: “In recent years, numerous cooperation projects have been launched among companies aimed at exchanging engagement with stakeholders… (including) the opportunity to participate in platforms for working together.”

Methodology

A quantitative approach was taken with an online survey fielded from 2:30 p.m CET on September 4 to 3:30 p.m CET on September 5, 2020, to collect data about attitudes and activities in the United States related to corporate involvement in social issues. The survey had 1,024 respondents from a nationally representative sample (Census projected), producing a 99% confidence interval with a +/- 3% margin of error. Note that categories may not total 100% due to non-answers, multiple-choice questions and rounding. The German survey was conducted in German; the American survey was conducted in English.