For-profit organizations can play a critical role in helping the global community to recover from the associated impacts of shocks such as COVID-19, violent conflict, and natural disasters.
These following media stories are based on systematic evidence on the mechanisms and conditions under which companies foster recovery from disruption more efficiently than other entities:
COVID-19
“In the wake of recent disasters, culminating in the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a good time to put the two most fundamental questions regarding the company engagement in societal issues forward again. The first is whether this engagement is good for the company itself. And the second: does it really benefit society? New evidence we have gathered on company giving in the wake of natural disasters offers a resounding but qualified “yes” to both questions”: https://www.conference-board.org/publications/disruption-strikes.
“It was early January in 2020. The coronavirus was already throwing out frightening signs of its potential for economic devastation. General Motors, Honda, Nissan, and other carmakers with plants in the most affected Chinese city of Wuhan had closed their lines. Employees could not work, suppliers had shut down, and customers postponed purchase. By April, the disruption has spread globally and into virtually all industries, from financial services and travel services to construction and technology. Some firms responded by moving into products for testing, combatting, or treating the pandemic. Luxury firms shifted to protective masks, alcoholic-beverage makers to hand sanitizers, and automakers to ventilators. Are these actions economically efficient? And can company engagement in tackling great challenges help societies recover from their disruption?”:https://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/disruption-strikes-youre-in-charge-now-what-when-companies-tackle-great-challenges/.
“As the world reels under the shock created by COVID-19, what role can companies play in leading the recovery from such disasters? Knowledge@Wharton discussed this question with Wharton management professors Michael Useem and Tyler Wry as well as George Washington University’s Luis Ballesteros. Their research indicates that corporations can play a positive role in the recovery from disasters like the this pandemic. The reason is that companies can react faster than traditional relief providers such as governments, multilateral agencies and non-governmental organizations.”: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/coronavirus-contagion-why-companies-should-lead-the-recovery-from-unexpected-disasters/
Sudden catastrophes (natural disasters and terrorist attacks)
-CGTN America: Corporate Giving to Disasters.
-The Conference Board: When Company Tackle Great Challenges. -The Conference Board: When Company Tackle Great Challenges.
-The European Business Review: Disruption Strikes, You’re in Charge.
-Harvard Business Review: Giving After Disasters
-Strategy+Business: Corporate First Responders, Strategy+Business
-Knowledge@Wharton: Mastering Disaster: How Companies Can Help in Rescue and Recovery
-UNOCHA & DHL: “Leveraging Formal and Informal Business Partnerships for Disaster Relief”, How Public Private Partnerships are Making a Difference in Humanitarian Action
Luis Ballesteros 