In fairness, it's about as much "responsibility" as most companies show toward their employees when firing them. I don't encourage being a jerk when you can avoid it, but the generally accepted view that employees owe the business more deference and respect than the business shows them is downright feudal.
It's not true that "most" companies do the things mentioned in the articles (firing people through a note on their desk or a fax), and in most cases that kind of thing is done by weak managers who are simply afraid of telling people bad news face to face.