How Responsible Business Manage Wartime Crisis?

In a wartime crisis a responsible business must manage to be more than business. Even if your business is not in the geopolitical regions of the war zone, you should definitely read this. Because, there is a high chance your business will be affected by the crisis.

On today’s date, we have an ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. Due to these conflict zones or imposed sanctions, if you or your supplier has been doing business with these at war countries, you will be affected. From the supply of oil, natural gas, aluminum, wheat etc. are some of the commodities which gets directly affected. Disruption in supply chain to loosing orders due to the non-availability or overshot part prices may affect your business.

It is not just now. Some other day, it’s going to be some unrest, violence and wartime crisis in some other part of the world. One or the other is always going to affect your business directly or indirectly. All we can hope for is peace. Until then as a business during a wartime crisis it becomes your duty to manage and be a responsible business.

What Makes a Responsible Business in a Wartime Crisis?

A responsible business in a wartime crisis, is the one that stands on the side of humanity, supporting the fellow humans and works towards the peace.

Help as Responsible Business

Assist all people, including those who are not your customers. That is during a wartime crisis, people will be suffering and will be in need of help. As a business, if you’re an essential supplier or can provide essential supply. Do not take advantage of the crisis, as a responsible business provide products or services at cost price. If you can afford to provide them for free help as much you can.

Learn More : How to Survive & Outlast the Crisis as an Entrepreneur and Business?

Some businesses can redeploy their unique capabilities to meet society’s immediate needs. So, take a moral stand and start to help as a responsible business as much as you can.

Responsible Business as Employer

Evacuate employees and families to a safe location. Provide them with the materials and information to reach safety. Provide hardship fund for employees facing difficulties as a result of war. Cover their life insurance and medical insurance costs. Honor your commitment towards their safety as the first preference.

Evacuate expatriate employees and families, because they have responsibility towards those employees that they have brought in. Inform and stay in touch with local embassies representing nations of which their employees are citizens. Negotiate with authorities for safe passage.

Responsible Business as Supplier

Inform your customers and suppliers of the hardships you are facing as a business. Be it from, delay in supplying of product as agreed on time or even honoring the commitment. Delay in payments or declaring bankruptcy. Most reasonable people would be empathizing towards your business at the least. Be clear in communicating to your suppliers and customers, if your business is disrupted and will cease to exist until next communication.

Managing Business Continuity Responsibly

If you are in the warzone, make sure there is a continuity plan to protect your business operations. The chances of losing your capital and all your business is gravely high in a wartime crisis. So always plan ahead in business to avoid risks like these. If you can operate or diversify your business from safer locations. Even when everything is burned down, your business network and relationships can remain valuable.

One of the best ways to support society during wartime crisis may be to keep its businesses from going bankrupt. When businesses do survive in war, they frequently thrive as suppliers of commodities and services that are vital to the war effort or indispensable to civilian survival. Business in defense, construction, food, shelter, medical, media, banks, etc. are critical to any war effort’s ability to feed, pay, and equip its forces and people.

Manage using a Human Rights Framework

Responsible business should manage to make important decisions in accordance with human rights framework and international law. The managers on the ground should not be forced to make critical decisions without a human rights framework guiding them. Firm understanding of international law, and enhanced due diligence are essential. Empowering managers is crucial. Developing a company culture that responds to the moral impulse is vital.

Ethics of Responsible Business

Being an ethical business means, making sure that your business does not cause or sustain armed conflict and human rights abuses in any part of your operations; Along its supply chain, in its recruitment policies, in its working conditions, in the way it behaves with people. Crisis prevention of this kind is ethically good business and it is also evidently good for business.

Do not deal or have business with anyone who is committing war crimes or any human right violations. If your product or service is being used in committing any act of harm, stop producing it. Destroy it if you can. As a responsible business always work towards peace of the humanity.