Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections was taken by many as another nail in the coffin of liberalism, and could also have an impact on the 10 most liberal companies in the US. The upcoming elections in a number of European states like Germany, France, and the Netherlands, which are being preceded by strong results for right-wing parties in polls, isn’t likely to make things better. In this way, it looks like the liberal story is coming to an end, or is already dead, as many headlines stated in the last couple of years.
And even though conservatives can rejoice over their victories in political and social spheres, one segment where liberalism isn’t dead yet and is unlikely to ever be eradicated completely is in business. For better or worse, there will always be companies which follow the ideas of liberty and equality, will support projects aimed towards improving such ideals, and will stand up against governments’ attempts to alienate certain rights. However, there will also be companies that will be more conservative and each group will appeal more to people that are closer to their respective ideologies.
Political divisions often dominate Americans’ lives, but are particularly noticeable during an election year. Last year, after having published the Fortune 500 list, Fortune contracted SurveyMonkey to conduct a poll in order to identify which companies Americans like and dislike and whether they identify themselves as liberals, conservatives, or moderate. The results showed some interesting differences. For example, conservatives were more likely to shop at Wal-Mart, while liberals considered it to be one of the worst companies for America. On the other hand, liberals like Target, while conservatives would like to see it shut down. Liberals named Alphabet as the company they would most like to work for, while conservatives, unsurprisingly, like ExxonMobil. However, there were also a number of similarities, with both liberals and conservatives naming Amazon, Walt Disney, Apple, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, and Alphabet among companies they like, which is also expected since these companies generally score well in consumer confidence polls.
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With the White House being ruled by an egotistical narcissist who attacks everything and everyone that doesn’t align with his positions, and the consequent increase of conservatives’ confidence that things will go their way, it is likely that the political and cultural division in the U.S will dominate its society for years. Trump’s recent attacks on individual companies and businesses’ responses to his actions will put in the spotlight the idea of “liberal” and “conservative” companies, which is likely to affect their performance. In the end, companies will try to accommodate both camps and try to keep everyone happy.
With this in mind, we have compiled a list of the 10 Most Liberal Companies In The US, based partially on the results of SurveyMonkey’s poll conducted for Fortune and partially on the segments that these companies are engaged in, their actions, their corporate social responsibility (don’t miss our list of the 10 Most Socially Responsible Companies in The US), and the views of their top management.
