Stef Kranendijk is chief executive of Desso, a Netherlands-based manufacturer of carpets for home and commercial use, and artificial grass for sports.

I worked for a large corporation in safety for 27 years. When I was selected to move into safety from engineering, I did not interview with a warehouse or a chemical processing unit. It was people. 

Last August while trolling for votes at the Iowa State Farm, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney created a media stir when, egged on by an irate protestor, said, “Corporations are people, my friend.”