posted by Revital Bitan on December 22, 2008
I recently had the privilege of attending a fascinating lecture delivered by Wendy Liu, Assistant Professor of Marketing at UCLA Anderson School of Management, during her visit to Haifa University. She spoke at length about her research on how time versus money can lead to two distinct mindsets that impact one’s willingness to donate to charitable causes. It’s what she calls “The Happiness of Giving; The Time-Ask Effect”.
Having spent a good part of my work week throughout 2008 driving voluntarism on Intel campuses across EMEA, I am always looking for that special formula that motivates ordinary people to do extraordinary things on their own time on behalf of their communities. I can easily write pages here about the benefits of volunteer work and I think that each and every Intel EMEA volunteer will know exactly what I’m talking about. But as Shelly Esque, Vice president Intel Corporate Affairs, wrote in her blog “What does one million hours mean”, it’s incredibly difficult to truly comprehend the impact that this huge number of volunteer hours made”.
I think that one of the greatest benefits of volunteering is a personal one. I must confess that I also got swept away in the momentum that inspired so many Intel employees to really want to do something worthwhile for their communities. To prove on a daily basis that the cliché “it’s better to give than to receive” truly makes a lasting impact.
I am always trying to capture some of that Intel EMEA volunteer energy. So I asked some of the volunteers from across the region to express their feelings about volunteering. And wait until you hear what they said! Thanks to the wonders of technology, we were able to put together a short video which I hope will also inspire other companies to ignite a spark among their employees so they, too, will choose to experience the happiness of giving.
Comments (3)
tagged: community, Corporate Social Responsbility, CSR, Voluntarism, volunteers
posted by Marisa Ahmad on December 15, 2008
Last week I blogged about some recent studies which indicate that ICT has an important role to play in combating climate change.
One question that came up was, aside from good policies, how are the carbon emission savings outlined in those studies going to be achieved? Otherwise put, tell us a story, Marisa! … and make it personal!
Ok ….
Comments (0)
tagged: automation, climate change, climate solutions, dematerialization, energy savings, environment, information and communication technology, substitution, technology, telecommuting
posted by Suzanne Fallender on December 11, 2008
It used to be that conversations about corporate governance and environmental management happened in separate circles. The governance folks focused their energy on lamenting egregious pay packages and accounting scandals, leaving the more touchy-feely environmental topics to others. But over the past few years, these two topics have continued to converge - with more institutional investors and governance advocates evaluating corporate approaches to key sustainability issues such as climate change through a governance and risk lens.
Sustainability isn’t just for socially responsible investors anymore.
And companies are taking action - as evidenced by a new study published by the investor group CERES: Corporate Governance and Climate Change: Consumer and Technology Companies. The study, prepared by the governance research firm RiskMetrics Group, ranks climate change and governance practices at 63 tech and consumer companies - using a “Climate Change Governance Framework” with metrics ranging from board oversight mechanisms to emissions accounting. Not all companies ranked well - including some ones with pretty good “green reputations” which I found surprising.
I expected that Intel would do fairly well based on our long history of looking at the issue of climate change, but you never know how these things are going to shake out (the downside of more and more companies improving their sustainability performance). So I was pleased to find that in the ranking of the 63 companies in the report (48 US and 15 non-US companies) - we not only earned the top score in the semiconductor sector but we came in 4th overall, (sharing the top five with our tech peers IBM and Dell.)
Comments (0)
tagged: CERES, climate change, corporate governance, csr, Intel, RiskMetrics, sustainability
posted by Marisa Ahmad on December 09, 2008
On Nov 25th, my colleague Stephen Harper blogged about the role of Information Communications Technology (ICT) in combating climate change, and outlined some policies that Intel, through DESC, are pursuing to allow the solutions potential of ICT to be realized.
I thought it would be helpful to provide some background information about those ‘recent studies’ that have been looking at the role of ICT in combating climate change.
Comments (3)
tagged: climate change, DESC, Economist debates, environmental innovation, ICT, Information Communications Technology
posted by Shelly Esque on December 05, 2008
The economic news is constant. The 24x7 news cycle bombards us all with information about the economy; $700 billion bailout, 1.2M U.S. jobs trimmed in 2008; Chinese Government pledges $586B stimulus; trillions lost in global financial markets and much more. We are so inundated with these numbers we become numb to their meaning. The numbers are numbing, but the impact is real, it’s painful, it’s hurting people we care about, but first we must translate the numbers into impacts we can understand. This week Intel proudly announced a significant accomplishment. Our employees in more than 40 countries across the globe contributed more than one million hours of community service in 2008. But like all the numbers and news we are pummeled with each day I’m so afraid the true impact of this achievement will arrive on dead ears, ears numb from too many numbers.
Comments (2)
tagged: Intel communities, Intel in Your Community, Intel volunteers, Intel's community outreach, one million hours, volunteer service
del.icio.us