Are we listening? Using conflicts analytics to manage corporate political risk

In the fourteenth public lecture of this series, Professor Witold Henisz, Deloitte & Touche Professor of Management in Honor of Russell E. Palmer, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania delivered the lecture titled, "Are we listening? Using conflicts analytics to manage corporate political risk"

In an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment, firms are often exposed to conflict through their supply chains, workforces, customers, and regulatory environments. This lecture discussed why political-risk strategies centred on avoidance are becoming less effective and presents approaches that account for the socio-political dynamics underlying conflict escalation.

Introducing a conflict-listening framework, the lecture demonstrated how geolocated, multilingual measures of intergroup sentiment and issue salience can provide early warning of escalation and reveal how businesses become implicated in local grievances. Drawing on evidence from multiple studies, it pinpointed key drivers of sentiment toward firms and outlines practical implications for political-risk assessment, due diligence, and stakeholder engagement.

This lecture was moderated by Jessica Wan Social Research Lead, Redwheel.