Day: March 16, 2020

by Jeff Webb   For the past several decades large corporations operating in the United States have made business decisions significantly influenced by the widely held belief they have social responsibilities that extend beyond their fiduciary responsibility to maximize profits. The current economic slowdown created by the Coronavirus pandemic presents every company in the country–and particularly large multinationals–the opportunity to demonstrate by their actions that they are the good corporate citizens they have claimed to be. Doing good deeds in a community has long been considered the best demonstration of corporate social responsibility. Now the most important thing companies can do is first, protect their own employees, and second, protect their business partners–the vendors and contractors that help enable their businesses to operate as  successful companies. The president’s declaration of a national emergency on Friday, combined with the shutting down of virtually every event in the country that involves crowds of almost any size, have confirmed this economic crisis. No one knows how severe the peak of this pandemic in the United States, which as of Sunday has already caused the deaths of at least 59 of our fellow country men, will be. Estimates from public health care experts and…