Despite interest in responsible capitalism, promises on stakeholder value are being tested as COVID-19 scars economies across the globe. Professor Bidhan Parmar sees a mixture of tensions — including matters of health and safety, stresses of pandemic life, issues of justice and equality — as the acid test for companies’ commitment to the stakeholder model.

It’s easy to stand for what you say you stand for when you’re flush with cash and things go your way, but when the chips are down, do you honor your word?”

– BIDHAN PARMAR, Associate Professor | Shannon Smith Emerging Scholar in Business

Parmar addresses the many ways companies can and are responding during this crucial moment in time, from stepping up to take better care of their employees to rebuilding with greener practices and more inclusive policies.

Read the full article on Ideas to Action.

This article is excerpted from Executive Education & Lifelong Learning’s Acting in the Present, Shaping the Future: Leaders in Unprecedented TimesDownload the full whitepaper to read additional perspectives on leadership kindness, the rise of AI and machine learning, diversity, equity and inclusion, and more from Darden’s world-renowned faculty experts.