Not Above the Fray--Corporations Contribute Dollars and Deeds to Haiti

As the sad news of devastation and despair in Haiti recedes from the national headlines, there is an enduring good news story not receiving its due: corporations have taken the mandate of global corporate citizenship to higher and unprecedented levels.

The early aftermath of Haiti's earthquake found national governments and international NGOs hastening to the aid of the suffering masses in the western hemisphere's poorest nation. We all expect developed countries and organizations like the Red Cross to spring into action when there are major crises. Corporations, we assume, would be supportive, if at all, with dollars but not with deeds.

But after a series of hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, famines and other natural disasters over the last two decades, the corporate sector has changed the script and heightened our expectations. Our society can now reasonably expect corporations--large and small--to play an active and indispensable role in international relief efforts. This assumed duty stands in stark contrast to the all-too-familiar dirge of corporate scandal, misdeed and malfeasance, and is the latest step along the continuum of responsible corporate citizenship.

Remarkably, a healthy level of competition has ensued. One company after another has been spurred on by the charitable efforts of its corporate rivals. While the commercial contests among companies to dominate market share in goods and services will and should continue, it is good to see that the competition to give more time, talent and treasure to help relieve human suffering has become an entrenched pillar in the corporate landscape. In fact, those companies who, for whatever reason, fail to show up, become spotlighted by their breach.

As we enter the second decade of the second millennium, the societal mandate for corporations to do good has fully matured. While we may cringe when a company toots its own horn too loudly, or carp that corporate profit should inure more fairly to society's needy, let us at least celebrate the commitment of many, many companies to be not above the fray.

(c) 2010. Adonis E. Hoffman.

Mr. Hoffman is a lawyer in Washington, DC and is the founder and chairman of the American Business Leadership Institute. He teaches Corporate Responsibility at Georgetown University.