Beyond ESG: A Playbook for Responsible Business in an Age of Transformation
Beyond ESG
A Playbook for Responsible Business in an Age of Transformation
C-Suite leaders today face a web of complex and convergent stakeholder expectations and operational realities at the intersection of business and culture.
From navigating politics and societal flashpoints to anticipating the future of work and leveraging AI to transform workflows and value chains, to addressing shifting regulation and marketplace dynamics, delivering stakeholder value has never been more challenging.
Stakeholders customers, employees, investors, policymakers and value chain partners—are impatient to understand how companies are addressing key challenges and responding to their expectations for responsible business. And consensus is hard to reach on what constitutes responsible business, often shorthanded to Environment, Social and Governance (or ESG).
Today, companies are engaging on material and reputational issues in a highly politicized context, most notably in the U.S., but in other regions, too. Despite some political pressure in the EU to dial back or delay ESG actions, the conversation in Europe and Asia remains more pragmatic and forward-looking, anchored in regulation, workforce innovation, and ethical technology and AI.
Around the world, there is growing pressure from stakeholders for short-term answers to the long-term, complex challenges in an age of transformation, and the debate about ESG and the role of business in society is far from over. Recent signs show that ESG proponents may be gaining new ground in proving the financial return of responsible investments
and the business case for sensible corporate sustainability regulation.
The substance of ESG platforms remains mission critical and now is the time to realign commitments, policies and practices with organizational values and priorities to engage stakeholders on the ethical considerations and material issues that matter most. Savvy leaders will prepare for the next chapter of ESG with strategies that move beyond the controversy to spot opportunity, mitigate uncertainty, drive innovation and create long-term value for the business and the world.
About this Playbook
This playbook is built for C-Suite leaders working to meet the moment and accelerate long-term success. Companies that understand how stakeholder value and impact are core to long-term growth, reputation and resilience will be positioned to win.
This moment isn’t about abandoning the substance of ESG. It's about moving beyond rhetoric to focus on pragmatic priorities and clear signals to financial markets and stakeholders seeking to hold companies accountable to their commitments. The path forward requires a return to what’s critical to performance by building a better responsible business approach: with focus, intention and measurable results.
The following resource sheds light on where and how companies can lead. It lays out the business case for investing in community and sustainability solutions, then offers five practical moves to help businesses embed impact into operations, partnerships and leadership priorities. Read on for guidance on how to structure, scale and communicate that work in ways that are measurable and enduring.
Moving Beyond the Politicization of ESG
ESG Evolution Timeline
DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
Lewis Brown Griggs introduced the term DEI to encourage companies to address biases and create more inclusive work environments.
CORPORATE (SOCIAL) RESPONSIBILITY
Corporate citizenship becomes more commonplace under the banner of CSR, a voluntary business model where a company chooses to be socially accountable – to itself, its stakeholders and the public
ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL & GOVERNANCE (ESG)
The United Nations Global Compact coined the term ESG to capture private sector alignment with and impact on sustainable development aims.
Companies have relied on common ESG frameworks to define responsible business priorities and to manage long-term material factors and value chain risks. Over the past two decades, the concept of ESG was often used as shorthand for work related to corporate sustainability and DEI policies and programs.
SHARED VALUE
Michael Porter and Mark Kramer published a seminal Harvard Business Review article in 2011 that pushed the idea of triple bottom line management into the mainstream
STAKEHOLDER CAPITALISM
The Business Roundtable and World Economic Forum redefined the purpose of a corporation as the creation of long-term value for all stakeholders, not just shareholders
DEVELOPMENT
DIPLOMACY
Cross-sector frameworks and partnerships designed to advance collective solutions to development and climate challenges emerge, such as the Kyoto Protocol (1997), Millennium Development Goals (2000), Sustainable Development Goals (2015) and Paris Agreement (2015).
WE ARE HERE Politicization and recalibration of ESG and DEI
Recently, media narratives have heralded the death of ESG as anti-woke influencers pushed the private sector to abandon ESG and DEI rhetoric and programming and return to a shareholder primacy model. Yet behind the scenes, the business case for stakeholder capitalism and the substance of ESG and DEI investments to protect sustainable value creation, unlock opportunity and manage long-term risks remain strong. Responsible business performance has been shown to improve employee retention and skill-building, enhance creativity and innovation, drive customer loyalty and partner preference, and attract investment and contribute to durable financial performance. No matter what it’s called, the substance of ESG is fundamental to business strategy in an uncertain context.
Responsible Business Mindsets
Despite the rhetorical and reputational turmoil of the most recent chapter of ESG, the substance of ESG and DEI investments remains central to business performance and reputation. In September 2025, Weber Advisory surveyed global C-Suite leaders on how they are balancing business realities, stakeholder expectations and political culture pressures in 2025. The findings reveal three primary mindsets leaders adopt as they evolve responsible business practices and resolve core tensions that define this era of global disruption and technological revolution.
Nearly half are ENTHUSIASTS who embrace their corporation’s social and environmental initiatives as core to business strategy and important to continue.
Just under half are PRAGMATISTS who are reflecting on the intent of their corporation’s social and environmental initiatives to ensure they are backed by strategic action, and/or not overcorrections to cultural pressures of the moment.
A minority are SKEPTICS who find their corporation’s social and environmental initiatives to be too far-reaching and going beyond what a company should address.
Half of C-Suite leaders report that their companies are evolving their corporate social and environmental initiatives to respond to the 2025 business context by better aligning with their stated values and business priorities. The recalibration can be characterized as a refinement of their approach to be more authentic and accountable, so that efforts align with business objectives, and/or to make substantive changes in response to material business issues and stakeholder expectations.
GO DEEPER: Check out the Pulse on the Modern CEO Agenda survey report.
The Impact Inflection Point
This moment presents an opportunity for C-Suite leaders to reset their responsible business strategies. One of the most critical moves is to decouple table stakes initiatives to address material risk and sustainability concerns from signature corporate impact investments that support a company’s competitive advantage.
Expectations for transparency and regulation around disclosure will continue and evolve, but companies now have more latitude to clearly define which key issues matter most to their business and their stakeholders, and make signature investments that solve real problems—plus, create shared value and drive differentiation in the marketplace.
DISCLOSURE
Ongoing global debate on standards for non-financial reporting and what defines table stakes responsible business practices and good governance
IMPACT
Bespoke strategies and initiatives that build and protect long-term license to operate in ways that are responsive to stakeholder expectations and needs in the age of transformation
In short, C-Suite leaders are moving their companies away from broad corporate proclamations of sustainability and ESG “leadership” to more focused action on social and environmental issues that matter most to the business. To meet this uncertain moment, many companies are reframing commitments in terms of efficiency, competitiveness and long-term performance instead of collective action toward global goals.
• Policy
• Regulation
• Reporting frameworks
• Reputation
• Storytelling
• Stakeholder engagement
And leading companies are looking beyond risk mitigation to redefine proactive commitments and investments that respond to stakeholder expectations and solve complex business challenges. This proactivity matters even more as the adoption of AI raises new questions about the employer-value proposition, data privacy, intellectual property protection, energy efficiency and more.
The Responsible Business Value Equation
To remain resilient, organizations should assess their responsible business strategies across the five types of value that underpin Weber Advisory’s proprietary corporate value framework:
Economic value
How sustainability and social impact work unlocks new markets, reduces costs or drives long-term performance and growth.
Functional value
How programs tangibly improve outcomes for customers, employees and partners, from the value-chain carbon footprint to disaster preparedness to product and service access in harder-to-reach communities.
Emotional value
How the company’s commitments and impact track record earn community trust, customer loyalty and employee pride in the enterprise brand.
Ethical value
How the company demonstrates transparency, fairness and a moral commitment to doing the right things.
Societal value
How the business contributes to shared value, collective well-being and solutions to complex systemic problems.
Social impact is business impact.
When companies invest in sustainability and community resilience, they are not just giving back—they’re getting ahead. Designing responsible business strategies with the corporate value framework in mind strengthens:
Operational resilience
Stronger environments and communities mean stronger supply chains, healthier workforces and more stable environments for business.
Employee engagement Teams want to work for companies that stand for something. Meaningful impact efforts build pride, belonging, loyalty and purpose. 1 2 3 4 5
Reputation and trust
People reward companies that show up with hope and support and follow through in moments that matter.
Innovation and insight
Engaging partners and communities unlocks fresh ideas, collaborations and insights that lead to better products and solutions.
Five Practical Ways to Accelerate Impact
From nice-to-have to business-critical, companies can embed sustainability and social impact mindsets into daily decisions, long-term priorities, and leadership behavior through five steps:
Build on What’s Already Working: Start with the initiatives, partnerships, and communities your business already touches. Audit internal and external activities to see what’s driving engagement, where trust is high, and what’s delivering impact at scale.
ACTIONS: Start with what you already do well. Look across your operations, supply chain, and employee initiatives for what’s making a difference and double down. Fund expansion of programs that already have momentum and measurable impact. Adapt successful internal practices into external partnerships. Don’t reinvent; instead, test, learn and scale what proves most effective.
Prioritize Agility and Resilience:
Prepare for the unexpected. Impact isn’t just about generosity, and sustainability isn’t just about cost savings they are also about readiness. Companies that plan for crises are better positioned to protect people, supply chains, and reputation.
ACTIONS: Shift investment timelines. Plan for future shocks, not just current needs. Consider how community preparedness (not just operational continuity) fits into your supply chain, logistics, and vendor relationships. Expand or retarget philanthropic partnerships to provide resources, tools, and funding where disruption is most likely. Fund infrastructure, not just services. Measure beyond marketing reach. Create shared success metrics with nonprofit and community partners.
“Impact is a mindset best cultivated by fostering natural partnerships and strengthening collaboration across C-Suite functions. Where can sustainability, strategy, finance, investor relations, and corporate affairs combine and unlock opportunity in risk attuned ways?”
– Chrissa Pagitsas CEO of Pagitsas Advisors and Weber Advisory Senior Advisor
Design WITH Communities, Not Just for Them: Embed more real time listening and feedback mechanisms into the work. Ground your work in the experience of the communities you serve, especially those who have been excluded, to champion solutions or contribute to decision-making. Trust builds when companies show up consistently, listen without agenda and evolve alongside community needs.
ACTIONS: Co-create programs and product innovations with community voices. Compensate community advisors. Fund local leadership. Work with organizations embedded in the places you want to reach and let them lead. Test solutions where they’re needed most. Build feedback loops into every phase of your project. You bring scale; they bring credibility. The only way to deliver on both is working together.
“It’s not about funding programs for communities; it’s about building with them. When companies invest in the social infrastructure that underpins resilience— local leadership, networks, and trust—they generate enduring impact for society and a competitive advantage for the business.”
– Virginia Tenpenny Chief Social Impact Officer at NationSwell and Weber Advisory Senior Advisor
Invest in Long-Term Trust, Not Just Short-Term Wins: Sponsorships and funding presentations may have a place, but meaningful community investment takes time. Financial and operational performance cycles are tied to short-term reporting, but sustainability and social impact partnerships develop and grow on a nonlinear and more long-term timeline. Calibrate your stakeholder engagement strategy to account for work-in-progress storytelling and interim proof points.
ACTIONS: Trade one-off moments for long-term movements. Fund consistent engagement, not just launch moments. Measure and communicate about behavior change and system-level improvements, not just impressions. Support local data ownership and storytelling. Don’t show up once; stick around. Anchor your brand in outcomes, not optics, and make trust the key performance indicator.
Lead from the Top; Learn from the Ground Up: Organizations take their cue from the top, and executive behavior matters. Driving impact is a leadership strategy, not just the work of a specialized team. Sustainability and social impact considerations are increasingly board-level agendas and part of risk mitigation and competitive advantage. When board members and senior leaders speak out, commit capital and show up in community conversations, it sets the tone for the rest of the business. Likewise, when leadership demonstrates they are listening and factoring in insights from the field and employee feedback, they strengthen the strategy-action-impact feedback loop and build trust with stakeholders and partners.
ACTIONS: Prepare the CEO and the board to factor sustainability and social impact into boardroom decision-making. Tie executive compensation to sustainability and inclusion outcomes. Develop risk-attuned plans to engage stakeholders on important issues – even and especially when it's hard. Incentivize risk-taking for good. Align internal decisions and policies to reflect your external values. Sponsor new talent pipelines. Model the change you want your company to create. When the CEO leads with purpose, the company follows.
This is a moment to lead with impact.
Today’s operating environment is demanding more from business leaders than ever before. Social, economic, environmental and technological shifts are accelerating. Trust in institutions is declining. Meanwhile, expectations for corporate leadership, especially in the communities where businesses operate, are quickly rising. But pressure is not the only driver. Opportunity is equally compelling.
Showing up in a way that feels performative or disconnected, erodes credibility. Communities notice, customers notice and employees notice. And, failing to show at all (the do-nothing option) risks falling behind competitors, losing talent and missing out on meaningful growth opportunities.
The opportunity isn’t just to be
part
of
the
conversation. It’s to shape it. By applying these principles and shared learnings, leaders can meet this moment with clarity, purpose and results. This playbook is a starting point. What matters most is what you do next—let’s talk!
Whether you’re looking to sharpen your strategy, spark new ideas or bring people along the journey, we’re here to help.
We bring leading-edge tools, data, insights and creative storytelling power to help you lead in ways that matter to your people, your partners and your communities—navigating disruptions and opportunities at the intersection of business and culture.
Let’s talk about what’s next—for your business and for the world around it.
About Weber Advisory
The Weber Shandwick Collective’s global C-Suite advisory unit—Weber Advisory—is a modern corporate affairs capability built for every facet of the CEO and corporate enterprise agenda.
In an era where understanding cultural nuances, political trends and societal shifts is essential for navigating the business landscape, Weber Advisory offers a comprehensive suite of services and technology built to empower agile corporate affairs executives to create and protect stakeholder value in high-stakes situations, including geopolitical issues, mergers and acquisitions, stakeholder activism, major crises, leadership transitions and business transformations.
Learn more at webershandwick.com/expertise/weber-advisory
For ESG expertise, please contact:
Paul Massey
President,
Advisory Co-Lead, Americas; Global Social Impact & Sustainability Lead pmassey@webershandwick.com
Gillian Gallanagh
Executive Vice President, Head of Social Impact, UK ggallanagh@webershandwick.com
Graham Reid
Senior Vice President, Head of Sustainability, UK greid@webershandwick.com
Kate Olsen
Executive Vice President, Advisory Thought Leadership Lead; North America Social Impact & Sustainability Lead kolsen@webershandwick.com
Jan Dirk Kemming
Executive Vice President, Head of Sustainability Consulting, Germany jkemming@webershandwick.com
Marta Bigio
Senior Vice President, Head of Sustainability, APAC mbigio@webershandwick.com
