University at Buffalo School of Management

10 Buffalo Business Spring 2019 B Y M A T T H E W B I D D L E "I f you've been sexually harassed or assault- ed, write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet." Days before actress Alyssa Milano sent this tweet, The New York Times and New Yorker leveled decades of assault and harass- ment allegations against Harvey Weinstein. With this simple missive, echoing a phrase coined in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke, #MeToo became a rallying cry—and ignited a firestorm. From October 2017 to October 2018, the hashtag was used more than 19 million times on Twitter, ac- cording to the Pew Research Center. During that time, at least 200 powerful men, as well as a few women, were brought down for bad behavior in in- dustries across the country. Oscar winners fell from grace, politicians were removed from office and busi- ness leaders lost their jobs. But for the rest of us, what's changed? Is #MeToo just a powerful hashtag, or is this part of a cul- ture-shiing movement? Experts agree that #MeToo has sparked an important national conversation that's being felt in organizations, legislation and soci- ety more broadly. But some say #MeToo is the symp- tom of a deeper issue—and it'll take much more than new policies and training courses to truly move the needle. Sparking a movement In 2011, Mara Swan, BS '81, executive vice presi- dent of global strategy and talent at ManpowerGroup, identified a growing "rise of voice" because of so- cial media, as consumers and employees began demanding more information from companies and their leaders. "Employees started speaking their minds," says Swan. "Previously, your HR practices were held in- side your organization, but through this 'rise of voice,' we're moving to total transparency. Within the next 10 years, everything—how many women com- panies hire, and their pay and promotion rate com- pared to men—will be public online." With #MeToo, those voices exploded to the fore- front on a global scale. The hashtag has been used in at least 85 countries, and 30 percent of these messag- es were written in a language other than English, ac- cording to Pew. Individuals and companies in more than a dozen industries are facing harassment alle- gations, spurring high-profile changes within those sectors. On Wall Street, at least 15 mergers and acqui- sitions in the past year have included "Weinstein clauses," allowing buyers to take back some of the purchase price if allegations surface against compa- ny executives. In tech, aer 20,000 employees world- wide walked off the job in protest, Google instituted new sexual misconduct policies. The entertainment industry saw its top union, SAG-AFTRA, adopt a clear zero-tolerance policy on discrimination and harassment. And, in hospitality, several hotel chains pledged to equip workers nationwide with panic but- tons—in fact, cities like Chicago and Seattle passed ordinances mandating it. "For legislators, the #MeToo movement has cre- ated a need to move forward and address these issues #METOO TIME'S UP How organizations and business schools are changing in the #MeToo era

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