Business Roundtable

Our latest analysis shows that stakeholder performance by BRT signatories in our Rankings has in fact trended upward in the last three years.

Americans are hesitant to agree that the nation’s largest companies are truly moving away from the shareholder-centric model.

JUST Capital checked in with Americans on how well they think companies are living up to the BRT’s principles. Explore our detailed findings here.

Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of the Business Roundtable’s embrace of a stakeholder approach in its revised Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation. The question everyone is wondering is – has it just been for show?

University of Virginia professor Ed Freeman told JUST that critics of stakeholder capitalism misinterpret it in three primary ways, rather than seeing it as the ideal way to run a growing, profitable business.

Since the Business Roundtable redefined the Purpose of a Corporation two years ago, how do Americans think companies are measuring up to this new stakeholder-focused purpose?

Last year, the BRT released a commitment to all stakeholders over shareholder primacy. We take a look at how the companies performed against our annual Rankings metrics.

What we measure for stakeholder capitalism is as important as how we measure it.

Milton Friedman and his peers set America on the course of shareholder primacy. Business leaders and academics are considering what must be done for a stakeholder-driven alternative.

Arguments in support of shareholder primacy and against stakeholder capitalism are out of sync with the voice of the American public, institutional investors, shareholders, and corporations themselves. 

We analyze how the BRT purpose statement signatories measure up to Americans’ expectations, and compare to other Russell 1000 companies.

Timed with the one-year anniversary of the Business Roundtable’s landmark redefinition of corporate purpose, we asked the public how they believe companies are doing in shifting from a myopic focus on shareholders to better serving the needs of all stakeholders. 

64% of Business Roundtable signatories released statements standing in solidarity with their Black and Brown colleagues and communities over the past few months. But how are they actually performing on key racial equity actions?

How will businesses continue to support their workers and customers after restrictions are lifted?

BRT companies are more likely to offer paid parental leave, although they provide fewer weeks of leave compared to their peers.