Need more confirmation that societal expectations of business are growing? Then you'll want to read The McKinsey Global Survey of Business Executives: Business and Society, recently published in the McKinsey Quarterly.

According to this survey of 4,238 executives in 116 countries, executives around the world overwhelmingly embrace the idea that the social role of a modern corporation goes far beyond meeting its obligations to shareholders. But executives also say that, for most companies, sociopolitical issues — such as environmental concerns and the effects of offshoring — present real risks. Indeed, finding ways to control them is so important, the executives say, that the effective management of sociopolitical concerns must start with the CEO.

These executives are far less certain, however, that corporations adequately anticipate which sociopolitical concerns will affect them. They believe that the tactics — lobbying and public relations, for example — companies now use to meet such concerns are not the most effective ones. In addition, they think that the public will expect corporations to take on a significant role in handling the new pressures.

More than four out of five respondents agree that generating high returns for investors should be accompanied by broader contributions to the public good — for example, providing good jobs, making philanthropic donations, and going beyond legal requirements to minimize pollution and other negative effects of business.

The most enthusiastic proponents are executives in India: 90 percent of them endorse the "public good" dimension. Executives based in China are the most lukewarm, with 25 percent saying that investor returns should be the sole focus of corporate activity. 

Executives believe that the solution lies in their own hands. Asked how adequately the respondents' companies anticipate social pressure — including criticism of their activities — 46 percent say that they have "substantial room for improvement," and a further 24 percent admit to seeing "some room." Only 3 percent report that their companies are doing a "good job."

When asked which tactics their companies actually rely on most frequently and which tactics they themselves consider most effective, almost half of the respondents say that their companies are currently lobbying regulators and governments and using the media and public relations as part of a strategy to manage social and political challenges. But when asked what tactics they consider most effective in managing such challenges, only 35 percent propose using the media and PR. A mere one-quarter recommend lobbying. A significantly higher proportion of the executives hold that the most effective tactics are policies on ethics and other corporate-responsibility issues, stakeholder engagement, and increased transparency about the risks of products or processes 

The choice of tactics is also an issue in assigning leadership. Asked who actually takes the lead in trying to manage the sociopolitical agenda of their companies, more than half of respondents point to the chair or chief executive. A further 14 percent report that the public- or corporate-affairs department typically holds the reins. When asked who should take the lead, however, almost three-quarters opt for the chair-CEO and a mere 4 percent for the public- or corporate-affairs department.

View the entire article, The McKinsey Global Survey of Business Executives: Business and Society.