Increasingly, companies are being pressured to decouple from regions that customers, employees, politicians, advocacy groups, and even leaders deem politically fraught. This can pose a dilemma for executives, as research both shows that fast decision-making is vital, but some circumstances require deliberation and care.
Rising tensions between the U.S. and China, escalating turmoil in the Middle East, scrutiny over the climate-friendliness of the supply chain, and other similar issues are forcing companies into a new dilemma: how to manage business decisions that are driven not by profits nor a company’s own strategic planning but are based on moral and societal values. Pressures for decoupling from dangerous, politically fraught regions will make these situations more common.