Assessing the impact of societal issues: A McKinsey Global Survey

It has been amazing to see terms such as "triple bottom line" and "social return on investment" move from the social sector into the boardroom. This global survey details how executives feel and think about the soft stuff that have hard business consequences.

clipped from www.mckinseyquarterly.com Executives expect the environment, including climate change, to affect shareholder value far more than any other societal issue during the next five years. Their concern now exceeds that of consumers. Most managers are personally worried about global warming. Only one in ten reports not worrying at all, and just 3 percent say they do not believe that it is happening. Corporate political influence and involvement, health care and other employee benefits, and job losses from offshoring also rank high on the sociopolitical agendas of business leaders. Executives indicate that companies are getting a little better at managing sociopolitical issues and understanding what the public expects of them.