The murder of Brian Thompson — and the public’s reaction to it — shows that frustration with corporations has reached a fever pitch. We seem to have moved from a world of “I don’t trust you” to “I hate you,” and, many Americans feel a great antipathy toward capitalism and capitalists. This is due, in part, to the failure of business, at large, to deliver value to customers, employees, and communities simultaneously.
In the days since UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson was tragically targeted and killed by a gunman on a New York City street, we have seen an alarming outpouring of vitriol against the company, its leaders, and other insurers. While many condemned the violence and offered condolences to the CEO’s family and colleagues, those messages were often drowned out byis the Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.