New article by Markus Scholz and Benedikt Kapteina in the *California Management Review*

Markus Scholz, Craig Smith, and Benedikt D. S. Kapteina have published an article titled“Corporate Political Engagement to Protect the Open Society: If, When, and How”in the prestigious *California Management Review* (CMR). The article, published in CMR Insight, develops a practice-oriented framework for addressing the question of under what conditions companies should assume political responsibility for protecting liberal-democratic institutions.

The article begins with the observation that companies depend on stable, democratic institutions based on the rule of law. If key prerequisites of open societies—such as the rule of law, a free public sphere, or independent institutions—are systematically weakened, political neutrality can no longer be taken for granted as an appropriate default position for companies. At the same time, they expressly oppose undifferentiated corporate activism: Not every political controversy requires companies to take a public stance. The authors see a particular responsibility to act especially in cases where a serious threat to democratic institutions coincides with a company’s substantial ability to influence the situation. At the same time, any engagement must meet the requirements of proportionality, democratic legitimacy, and institutional restraint.

The publication also underscores the international visibility of the research conducted by the Chair in Corporate Democratic Action and political corporate responsibility. The California Management Review is published by the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and explicitly positions itself as a bridge between management research and business practice. The journal is rated B in the VHB Rating , 3 in the British Academic Journal Guide , and A by the Australian Business Deans Council. This places it among the internationally established journals in the field of practice-oriented management.