Strategic leadership in the face of sociopolitical and sociocultural challenges

Firms are living through a period of unprecedented sociopolitical and sociocultural changes. The shifts in external and internal environments increasingly require firms to strategically navigate social challenges not only in their wider societal context, such as cultural conflicts, climate change, and polarization but also within the organizations, including increasing representation diversity within their own boundaries. However, we still lack an integrated understanding of the roles of corporate executives as strategic leaders in navigating such complexity in the environment. In this symposium, we bring together four papers focusing on the different roles of corporate executives (CEOs, CHROs, and TMTs as a whole) in addressing external sociopolitical challenges (e.g., controversial societal issues and activist campaigns) and internal sociocultural complexity (e.g., human resources and national diversity). Do Authentic Activist CEOs Gain Favor from Shareholder Activists? Author: Yuting Yang; Iowa State University CEO Exposure to Diverse Demands from Shareholder Activists and Firm Responses to Subsequent Activism Author: Canquan (Charles) Li; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Author: Shuping Li; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Understanding Chief Human Resource Officer Tenures and Activities on Top Management Teams Author: Andrew Millin; Florida International University Author: Donald Joseph Schepker; University of South Carolina The Contrasting Implications of TMT Surface- and Deep-Level National Diversity for Firm Performance Author: Aaron Aujla; London School of Economics and Political Science