Update on Business Social Responsibility and Ukraine

The sheer volume of companies clamoring to join the list of corporations withdrawing business from Russia after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine came as a shock to Yale management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. Founder of the Chief Executive Leadership Institute, Sonnenfeld has spent four decades pushing CEOs to act to benefit society, not just shareholders, on social issues ranging from gun control to voting rights.

But nothing has drawn as much attention or support from business leaders, media, or the public as his inventory of companies that have cut ties with Russia. “So many CEOs wanted to be seen as doing the right thing.” Sonnenfeld, said in a telephone interview. “It was a rare unity of patriotic mission, personal values, genuine concern for world peace, and corporate self-interest.”

Many companies pulled out in response to employee outrage over the exposure of the firms to Russia. Leaving billions of assets and revenue on the table. Sonnenfeld said the “laggards” followed this week. When the public relations arms of more than two dozen consumer products, fashion, fast food, and packaged goods companies contacted him in a single day to be included.