The question whether “public and government affairs” matters or not for a company’s business success comes up quite often at corporate planning meetings. The reason is that

those in this profession struggle to provide a “value proposition”
for why their role is vital for success.

There is a famous study by McKinsey, the consultancy, that says after customers,

government is the #2 factor that influences
the commercial success of a company

and that the more regulated an industry in which a certain company operates, the more impact the government has.

To deal with the regulators, to deal with regulatory policy, whether it’s in the chemicals, the environment or the technological sector, whether it’s about privacy or data protection, these issues are usually handled by two teams.

They are

handled partly by the legal team
and partly by the government affairs team

[though these two sometimes overlap]. The government affairs team has a broader function and role than looking at the specifics of the legal side.

Public affairs tends to look at the political context
in which a company operate.

That really drives home the point that the public affairs function is vital to a company’s success in a commercial setting.

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