Companies taking a stand on social causes hasn't been around all that long. Granted, during the major wars, companies were recruited to extend wartime messaging. But having a company's leadership declare that it stands for stronger environmental protections, social equality or inclusion, for example, date back only within recent decades. The reason for this should be obvious: companies exist to make money, not champion social causes. Even if one of their main objectives were to champion social causes, a company's leadership is neither accountable nor elected by the public at large. The corporate entity ultimately answers to a different elector. While there can be role for the private sector to help advance a cause, the ultimate objective is always finding ways to expand the bucks -- and the ways of doing that can vary with the times and with the firm's given roster of senior executives. Moreover, there will always be one or two somewhat disingenuous Me-too's who simply need to have a seat on the band-wagon.
