The National Football League: “Who Gets to Take a Knee?”
Image
Region
North America
Topic
Ethics & Social Justice
Strategy & General Management
Length
10 pages
Keywords
NFL
oppression
communications strategy
Copyright Holder
Notre Dame
Student Price
$4.00
Target Audience
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Students
Executive Education
Other Audience
Beginning the 2016 NFL preseason, 49ers’ quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, did not stand for the national anthem. In opposition of social injustices and systematic oppression, the one-kneed gesture grew to a larger protest of the national anthem. The NFL and commissioner Goodell ponder the proper stance, balancing patriotism and as social justice. 10 pp. (A) Case; 5 pp. (B) Case. Case #18-04. (2018)
Learning Outcomes
- To demonstrate how individual opinion can attract national attention, potentially harming an organization’s brand and public image.
- To begin discussion around the idea that various stakeholder groups often react in dramatically different ways, depending on their interests, values and perspectives.
- To demonstrate the ways in which corporate values, as exemplified by corporate behavior, can both stoke tensions and build community pride, depending on stakeholder interests.
- To illustrate the notion advanced by Arthur W. Page that “In a democratic country, every business begins by public approval and continues by public permission.”