Just a short blog post this time. I speak at a lot of conferences on the broad topic of CSR, or environment, supply chain, ethics, etc. A few years ago it got a little too much for one person to try to fairly represent Intel at these external events while still driving CSR programs inside the company.
The CSR team at Intel is small, but having more than one person helped spread the load. Today, we have content experts, regional leads and key executives all out speaking about CSR at Intel all around the world. I just prepared my monthly status report and realized that we are still turning down more invitations to speak than we are accepting. And even with that being the case, there are still days in the month where we have three different people in three different cities all trying to fairly represent Intel in external CSR forums. Timeout! Please. We have a lot of work to do in our day-to-day jobs. Somebody has to realize that more than one conference on every day of the year that presents best practices and CSR might be too many. I’ve had a few conversations with conference organizers this past year to explain the challenge we’re faced with. I know conferences can be a good revenue stream, but we can’t be everywhere all at the same time.
Intel Corporate Responsibility Report
Our recently released 2010 report details what Intel stands for as a company, our goals, and our dedication to sustainability.
» Visit the report website » Download the report
I just read that Intel has about 2100 retirees who represent an untapped resource. All of the Intel retirees are knowlegeable about the company and its culture. Further, it is likely that many are familiar with Intel’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) record. I would bet that you would find ready volunteers among the ranks of retirees who would welcome an opportunity to contribute to the success of the company going forward. Perhaps with some training, interested Intel retirees could be deployed as CSR Ambassadors to help fill some of the conference/speaking gaps. Using retirees as CSR Ambassadors would relieve some of the pressure on current staff and allow the latter to focus more attention on long-range strategies. It also seems like a good way for retirees to stay involved while helping the company to build positive brand recognition.
Yahoo getting sued in the United States for its involvement with the Chinese government and the subsequent imprisoning of journalists is a topic I’d like to hear you guys discuss. And perhaps what legal ramifications companies doing business in China should face for obvious human rights violations.
Should corporations have their corporate charters revoked and be shut down altogether if they cannot behave ethically in China?
At a bare minimum company’s like Yahoo should not be involved in activities that will result in violating a human beings right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Hiding behind foreign laws won’t work on U.S. soil where the companies are incorporated and most of their executives live. Perhaps criminal and civil liability for corporate leadership would help foster a sense of corporate social responsibility among these fearless leaders of technology?
Since a sense of social responsibility appears to be something that is easily trumped by corporate greed.