Beth Kowitt
Beth Kowitt argues that companies rarely suffer most from the positions they take. They suffer when employees and customers conclude those positions were never genuine in the first place.
Corporate America has become adept at making carefully worded statements that leave room for flexibility. But when a company draws a clear ethical line and later crosses it, the damage often comes not from the decision itself but from the inconsistency, Bloomberg Opinion columnist Beth Kowitt writes.
She points to law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, which is reportedly helping President Donald Trump’s legal team seek Supreme Court review of a jury verdict in favor of E. Jean Carroll. The firm’s involvement drew scrutiny because partners had previously been told it would not participate in work related to the Carroll cases.
For Kowitt, the episode illustrates what corporate governance experts describe as the “say-do gap” — the disconnect between public commitments and corporate actions. Employees and customers may disagree with a company’s values, she argues, but they are less likely to tolerate values that appear negotiable.
The same pattern has emerged elsewhere. Google faced employee backlash when actions appeared to conflict with its long-promoted ethical identity. Target encountered consumer criticism after scaling back diversity initiatives that had become central to its public brand. In both cases, Kowitt argues, the strongest reaction stemmed from perceived inconsistency rather than the underlying policy decisions.
Research increasingly supports that view. Companies viewed as authentic and consistent tend to earn stronger customer loyalty, command higher pricing power, receive better reviews and benefit from higher employee engagement, according to studies cited in the column.
Kowitt argues that companies have every right to evolve as business conditions change. What they cannot afford, she writes, is leaving employees and customers wondering whether their stated principles were ever sincerely held.
Bottom line
Corporate values do not have to remain static. But when companies change course, transparency and consistency matter as much as the decision itself.
Source
Bloomberg Opinion