Is the Concept of Neutrality on the Table?

In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and multinational companies began pulling out of Russia, in response. At Switzerland-based Nestlé, chief executive Mark Schneider had a difficult decision to make.

Nestlé had a long tradition of neutrality that enabled it to operate in countries regardless of their political systems and human rights policies. But more recently the company had embraced Michael Porter’s “shared value” paradigm, which argues that companies have a responsibility to improve the business community and the health of their communities. What should Schneider do?

Harvard Business School professor Geoffrey Jones discusses the viability of the shared value concept and the social responsibility of transnational corporations today in the case, “Nestlé, Shared Value and KitKat Diplomacy.”