Survey Says: Ethics Still Matter in Business

Does the stakeholder approach to business still matter in a climate dominated by raw, power-play decision-making?

Stakeholder proponents like Darden School of Business Professor Ed Freeman say the answer is yes, even as corporate executives pull back on commitments to workers and political leaders today enact massive changes that will deeply affect employees and other stakeholders.

Darden professor Ed Freeman articulated the original stakeholder tenets in a business context in his 1984 book “Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach.”

“The opportunity for businesses to step up is huge,” Freeman said.

New research suggests that is exactly what people want.

A recent survey gauging what people expect from corporate America ranked ethical leadership as the No. 2 expectation people have for business. That result was up from the No. 7 spot last year.

Similarly, respondents listed the expectation that corporations “communicate transparently” rose to the No. 4 rank this year, from No. 12 the previous survey.

The No. 1 result: People expect and want fair, living wages.

The annual Americans’ Views on Business Survey, conducted by JUST Capital, is intended to identify what the public expects from business, what issues matter most, and where there are opportunities for business leadership.

JUST Capital was co-founded in 2014 by a group from business, finance and civil society who “believed that business and markets can and must be a greater force for good.” The founding members include investor Paul Tudor Jones II, who earned an economics degree from the University of Virginia.

Freeman, who collaborates regularly with JUST Capital, said this year’s survey results are not surprising, as they fit with a pattern of public sentiment for ethical, fair behavior toward employees and other stakeholders such as suppliers, communities and investors.

“If you ask American people what they want about their business, they want them to essentially create value for their stakeholders. That’s the short form of what this survey says,” Freeman said. “They place fair wages, dealing with customers in the right way, and ethics, at the top of the list. This isn’t some weird idea. It’s what people expect.”

Stakeholder capitalism is defined broadly as an approach to business in which a company or organization considers how its actions will affect all stakeholder groups, rather than fulfilling a responsibility only to shareholders. The approach urges consideration of employees, customers, suppliers, the community and the environment – as well as shareholders.

Stakeholder capitalism or stakeholder theory have long been core to Darden’s curriculum and School values. Freeman, who has taught stakeholder theory and ethics at Darden since 1987, is credited with articulating the original stakeholder tenets in a business context in his 1984 book “Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach.”

JUST Capital said the latest survey results mirror sentiments expressed by voters in the November 2024 election cycle: “Americans are concerned about their economic well-being, about how they are treated as consumers, about being able to support their families. And they appear distrustful of institutions as they repeatedly call for increased transparency, corporate accountability and leadership.”

For Freeman, the results bolster Darden’s commitment to teaching responsible leadership, while giving corporate and government leaders more reason to think about how their decisions affect others.

“When the effects are not good, you’re partially responsible for that,” he said. “Stakeholders are responsible too, but you’re partially responsible for the effects of your actions. That’s just ethics 101.”

The survey’s top 10 issues that members of the public identify for business:

1. Pays a fair, living wage
2. Acts ethically at the leadership level
3. Supports worker wellbeing
4. Communicates transparently
5. Provides benefits and work-life balance
6. Supports workforce advancement and training
7. Treats customers fairly
8. Offers fair pricing
9. Creates jobs in the U.S.
10. Protects customer privacy