Michael did say our name [CSR@Intel] was lame, but what to you expect from a company the puts a billion circuits into something the size of your thumb? We tend to error on the side of directness and efficiency in our communications. I did try to jazz things up with the title of my blog post. Oh well, I guess we would rather hear that our blog content is, “smart and thoughtful” than we have a great name for our site. All in all, we were happy with the feedback.

Comments (1) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.2003 2008-07-29T21:51:07Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

We recently brought our internal network of “CSR Champions” from all around the world into Santa Clara, CA (our corporate headquarters) for a “summit” covering a number of topics related to CSR. Any meeting that gets me out of Phoenix...

Gary Niekerk http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/profile_garys_niekirk.php We recently brought our internal network of “CSR Champions” from all around the world into Santa Clara, CA (our corporate headquarters) for a “summit” covering a number of topics related to CSR. Any meeting that gets me out of Phoenix in the middle of summer is a welcome trip so I was excited to attend for several reasons. It’s always refreshing and enlightening to hear the perspectives of people working on the ground in places like India, Russia, Turkey, China and Costa Rica. We often find that CSR means different things in different parts of the world; however, at this meeting it seemed that we are all getting a little closer to a consensus of what CSR is or isn’t for Intel around the globe. We are not sure why this is - it could be the world is getting more aligned or we are getting more mature in our thinking. What ever the reason, we thought this was a positive development.

We did some visioning exercises and we worked on what we think CSR should look like at Intel in 2013; and we had a group work on answering two more timely and tactical questions: (1) What can we do as an organization [at Intel] to dramatically increase employee engagement and commitment around CSR? (2) What can we do to successfully integrate CSR into all aspects of Intel’s business and operations? Loads of good information derived from the summit; but now we need to prioritize it and put this into our business plans.

Comments (0) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1984 2008-07-18T16:07:19Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

Today’s Intel’s 40th anniversary – and to celebrate, we created the World Mural Project in which youth around the world at more than 70 Intel Computer Clubhouses shared their vision on what computers will allow us to accomplish in the...

Suzanne Fallender Today’s Intel’s 40th anniversary – and to celebrate, we created the World Mural Project in which youth around the world at more than 70 Intel Computer Clubhouses shared their vision on what computers will allow us to accomplish in the next 40 years. Intel employees volunteered over 1000 hours to help more than 500 young people in 21 countries on the project, a web-based digital mural that incorporates graphic design “tiles” from the different clubhouses into a single piece of digital art. Their creativity and views on technology are reflected in their wide range of responses to the question: “In 40 years, computers will empower us to…”

View the completed mural at: www.worldmuralproject.com. Hear more about the project and how Intel’s celebrating our anniversary through volunteerism from Shelly Esque, Intel’s Director of Global Corporate Citizenship.

Click To Play

Comments (0) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1963 2008-07-11T21:21:48Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

In the spirit of July 4th, the American media compared the positions of our presidential candidates on “service” last week. John McCain talks about inspiring Americans to serve “a cause greater than their self-interest,” while Barack Obama has mentioned finding...

Luke Filose http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2008/07/profile_luke_filose.php In the spirit of July 4th, the American media compared the positions of our presidential candidates on “service” last week. John McCain talks about inspiring Americans to serve “a cause greater than their self-interest,” while Barack Obama has mentioned finding “citizenship that was meaningful” by serving as a community organizer.

The business world is talking about its own citizenship these days, for example in Klaus Schwab’s article in February’s Foreign Affairs, and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich’s book Supercapitalism. Klaus defends corporate citizenship, while Reich denies its existence with the following Aristotelian syllogism: Citizenship is for individuals. Corporations are not individuals. Therefore, corporations cannot exercise citizenship.

Such semantics feel out of place inside Intel. Like our presidential hopefuls, Intel employees are evidently interested in contributing to larger causes. According to Intel’s latest CSR report, 38% of employees volunteered in 2007 (12% above the national average), and the company set a goal of one million volunteer hours for this year’s 40th anniversary.

Does Intel encourage volunteerism to create positive press around its commitment to corporate citizenship? Perhaps, but a more likely explanation is that Intel wants its employees to be happy.

Stanford GSB professor Jennifer Aaker, who taught “Creativity & Innovation in Marketing” at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business last semester, presented research on happiness to our class, suggesting that volunteering increases (and sustains) your level of happiness more than a high salary, level of education, intelligence, or even – if you can believe it – youth and beauty.

Other happiness creators include free time, humor, and dancing. My advice is to plan some dance lessons and a visit to The Improv for your next vacation, with a volunteer project to start on your return.

Comments (0) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1950 2008-07-04T09:27:56Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

I had the pleasure of participating in last week’s annual assembly meeting of the CSR Europe organization which was a perfect opportunity to distribute Intel’s European CSR report to many of my CSR colleagues. Although the report presents many examples...

Revital Bitan http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/profile_revital_bitan.php I had the pleasure of participating in last week’s annual assembly meeting of the CSR Europe organization which was a perfect opportunity to distribute Intel’s European CSR report to many of my CSR colleagues. Although the report presents many examples of our CSR activities across Europe, it’s not meant to be a marketing brochure. Yet I use it as my primary marketing tool because good marketing is rooted in reliability and I think the report shows just that.

The prominent exposure of the CSR Europe’s Guide to Sustainable Marketing at the assembly made me think about the new role of marketing professionals in terms of CSR. In this booklet guide Donald Fuller(Sustainable Marketig-Ecological issues 1999) defined sustainable marketing as “the process of planning, implementing and controlling the development, pricing, promotion and distribution in a manner that satisfies the following three criteria: 1. that customer needs are met. 2. that organizational goals are attained and 3. that the process is compatible with ecosystems.” This Guide is complemented with a great 3D Online Game with the objective of showing marketers that environmental criteria can be a part of consumers’ choice of product.

Intel has always worked on the premise that CSR Marketing without CSR substance is not marketing at all. It’s plain wrong. But when there is real substance – real activity and achievements – then there is a real marketing story to tell. One that communicates reliability and strengthens the brand. This makes corporate responsibility coupled with clever marketing and clear communications a winning formula.

Today when businesses are competing on CSR in terms of both market development and reputation, CSR marketing (with real CSR substance) is the way to go!

Comments (0) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1949 2008-06-27T19:32:44Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

What is the connection between Intel’s products and Intel’s education initiatives? Are teachers asked to buy a Classmate PC after completing a training module on how to teach 21st century skills? Of course not. One notable aspect of the Intel...

Luke Filose http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2008/07/profile_luke_filose.php What is the connection between Intel’s products and Intel’s education initiatives? Are teachers asked to buy a Classmate PC after completing a training module on how to teach 21st century skills?

Of course not. One notable aspect of the Intel Education Initiative – whereby Intel works with governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to improve the quality of education – is the lack of a sales pitch. Intel believes that a rising tide lifts all boats, including the boats that carry its products.

Most multinational corporations have either dipped their toes or plunged head-first into emerging markets in recent years, often with some level of NGOs collaboration. NGOs have assisted in ways ranging from implementing CSR programs to market research to actually selling product.

C.K. Prahalad wrote about the recent “co-creation” trend in the February 2007 Harvard Business Review, citing the example of BP marketing the Oorja cookstove in India with the help of local NGOs. Because I launched a similar product in Chad from an NGO (without MNC support) during the same time period, naturally I was interested.

The promise of co-creation partnerships is compelling: the business profitably reaches a new group of consumers with a smaller investment than going it alone, and the NGO furthers its mission with a powerful brand that it would struggle to create in house.

Initial signs show that BP’s approach has worked well, with 100,000 Oorja stoves sold (see BP’s 2007 Sustainability Report, page 35). But such partnerships can present cultural challenges as businesses seek profitability and NGOs call for sustainability. It’s not always easy to define the latter, let along understand the overlap with the former.

A business can even find itself in no-man’s land, with an approach that is seen as too commercial by some stakeholders (“why aren’t you giving it away?”) and not commercial enough by others (“you’re only selling it for HOW much?”).

I can’t argue for one approach over another, as so much depends on the specifics of the company and the market. But I believe that alliances focused on selling product cannot replace those focused on broader economic development, and that programs such as the Intel Education Initiative are a great way to demonstrate a long-term commitment to solving global problems.

Comments (1) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1947 2008-06-25T23:51:13Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

Some days, it seems that there are more rating lists on corporate responsibility out there than we can count. (For an example, check out Dave Stangis’ blog post a few days ago on the latest Harris Interactive Reputation list.) That’s...

Suzanne Fallender Some days, it seems that there are more rating lists on corporate responsibility out there than we can count. (For an example, check out Dave Stangis’ blog post a few days ago on the latest Harris Interactive Reputation list.) That’s why it’s helpful when you can get a nice roll-up of a number of the lists out there like the report put out yesterday by an organization called Net Impact, 2008 Net Impact Company Ratings.

The report lists 250 companies that appear across a handful of major CSR “best of” lists like the CRO’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens List and two major socially responsible investor indexes produced by mutual fund companies Calvert and Domini. The Net Impact report can serve as a guide for Net Impact members, primarily students and alumni of leading MBA programs interested in finding jobs with “socially responsible” employers. If you’ve never heard about Net Impact – you should check them out. I’m personally a big fan - I love going to their annual conference and seeing a sea of 1,000+ MBA students passionate about corporate responsibility. And over the past few years Intel’s had teams of Net Impact members prepare the assurance statement of our CSR report and we’ve attended events at business school chapters and at local professional chapters like the new one that just got started in Phoenix. We even have Net Impact members as our new summer interns (and one’s an accomplished blogger, so watch out for his posts coming soon to this blog….)

But I digress - back to the report and the question of lists. So, what does it really mean to be on these lists? Does it make us more socially responsible to be on four lists instead of three?

The answer depends on which lists you’re looking at and what you do with the lists.

For a bit of background, in my pre-Intel life, I ran a research organization that did CSR research and rated and ranked companies. So, needless to say it’s very interesting to now look at these lists from “the other side” - as one of the companies being rated. One question I would inevitably always get from my investor clients was, “Tell me which are the best companies or who are the ‘greenest’ companies.” My usual initial response was, “there’s no such thing as a perfect company and it all depends on your social investment criteria.” Because there are so many variables and the fact that there is inherent subjectivity in the term “environmentally responsible,” companies can drop on and off your list depending on where you draw the line.

Last week, one of our executives asked, ‘what did Texas Instruments do to get on the top of such-and-such list? What are they doing that we aren’t?’ I rattled off some of the things that I know they’ve done over the years – but there wasn’t one easy answer I could give him. Texas Instruments executives might even ask the same thing about the lists Intel is on that they don’t even appear on. That’s because each list has a specific universe of companies it’s using as a starting point, uses a different set of criteria, and applies different research methodologies to analyze the corporate responsibility records of companies (i.e. using company provided data, third-party information, broad-based surveys of business executives.) One list is not necessarily better than another, but if you ask different questions, you’ll get different answers.

That’s why I always like to look across a lot of lists – similar to how the Net Impact report is laid out - and dig into them to understand why we’re on one vs. another. Now, I’d be lying if I said I don’t get excited and feel extra proud to be a part of this company when we get named to a top spot on an individual list. But ultimately, it’s the big picture across all of these lists that’s the most helpful – the common areas where we get ranked high or the common areas where we score lower that give us the best information about how we’re doing relative to our peers, where we can improve our own performance, and what the new emerging issues outside groups are looking at when they rate companies. I also think it’s beneficial and ultimately makes these lists more useful for users – whether it’s investors, job-seeking MBA students, consumers or the companies being rated – when the raters and rankers clearly explain their methodology – this allows the users of the lists to really know what is being measured and provides companies with actual data they can use to improve their performance – which in my mind is the main benefit of having these lists in the first place.

Comments (2) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1944 2008-06-24T03:01:13Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

Last week an important report was published entitled Smart 2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age. Coming from The Carbon Group on behalf of GeSI (Global eSustainability Initiative), the study has important data on information and communication...

Lorie Wigle Last week an important report was published entitled Smart 2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age. Coming from The Carbon Group on behalf of GeSI (Global eSustainability Initiative), the study has important data on information and communication technology (ICT) and CO2 emissions.

Many of us have become accustomed to headlines about data center energy consumption and power/cooling concerns. And this report does detail the direct energy consumption of ICT including forecast data with clearly documented assumptions. As seen elsewhere, it’s estimated that ICT accounts for about 2% of global CO2 emissions. But this study goes further. Through enabling other sectors to reduce their emissions, the ICT industry could reduce global emissions by as much as 15% by 2020 – a volume of CO2e five times its own footprint in 2020.

Now this is not to say that we shouldn’t worry about the 2% and growing direct footprint of ICT. Intel is strongly committed to continue to use the benefits of Moore’s Law to deliver improvements in performance and in energy efficiency – in fact through our “go managed, go mobile” analysis, we can demonstrate the dramatic power savings of latest generation desktop and notebook systems as well as the benefits of power management technologies. All told, today’s Intel Centrino processor-based notebooks are 17X more efficient than Pentium D based desktops (see footnote for details). Similarly, our server processors are delivered unparalleled performance and reductions in power consumption. Intel along with the industry is taking steps to improve the 2% beyond what any one company can do alone. We have formed the Climate Savers Computing Initiative to improve power delivery efficiency and the adoption of power management – these two steps will reduce computer energy consumption 50% by 2010. And the Green Grid is focused on holistically improving data center efficiency – both through facility design and IT best practices.

But the coverage in this report from GeSI on the benefits of ICT on specific areas of global emissions is breakthrough. It makes specific recommendations for focus. Through our leadership in the high performance computing market, we’ve long seen the benefits of compute cycles on demanding application areas such as oil and gas exploration and medical imaging. The report encourages us to expand our thinking to include the permeation of communicating and programmable devices into the electric grids worldwide and to make building smarter as examples. With the Atom family of processors, we’re well-positioned to do our part in this transformation.

Going forward, I’m eager to engage in the dialog that will naturally result from this thought-provoking study and formulate new efforts within Intel, across the industry and in cooperation with governments globally to continue to maximize what energy ICT consumes – and also to effectively apply it to reduce CO2 much more broadly.

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Footnote (details on Centrino vs. Pentium D efficiency comparison):

Intel Core 2 Duo processor E6550 (2.33GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache), Intel DQ35JO motherboard with Intel Q35 Express chipset; 1333MHz FSB, Intel integrated graphics, 2x1GB Micron DDR2-667 5-5-5-15, Seagate 320GB/16MB cache/7200rpm, Windows Vista Enterprise.

Intel Pentium D Processor 945 (3.4GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2x2MB L2 Cache), with Intel 945G Chipset on Intel D945GPM board, Intel Chipset Software Installation File 8.1.1.1010, Dual Channel Micron PC2-5300U 2x1GB of DDR2 667 5-5-5-15, Seagate Barracuda 320GB NCQ SATA2 7200RPM, Windows Vista Ultimate RTM Build 6000 NTFS.

ACER 5720 Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 (2400MHz/800FSB L2 4MB) with Integrated Graphic,2x1GB Hynix DDR2-667, Hitachi 160GB 5400rpm HDD

Display power draw values gathered from spec sheets of 10 models of each type of display (CRT and LCD).

Intel EEP methodology is described here: http://www.intelcapabilitiesforum.net/EEP/

And now, for some legalese: Performance tests/ratings are provided assuming specific computer systems and/or components and reflect the approximate performance of Intel products as measured by those tests. Any difference in system hardware or software design or configuration may affect actual performance. This data may vary from other material generated for specific marketing requests.

Comments (0) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1941 2008-06-23T14:50:10Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

Today, Intel was announced as having one of the best Corporate Reputations among the 60 most visible companies in the U.S. We came in at #3 – our highest ranking in the 9-year history of the index and our largest...

Dave Stangis http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/profile_dave_stangis.php Today, Intel was announced as having one of the best Corporate Reputations among the 60 most visible companies in the U.S. We came in at #3 – our highest ranking in the 9-year history of the index and our largest year-over-year improvement since the list began back in 1999.

I view our reputation as a strategic business asset that our employees help protect and build through their daily decisions in the workplace and in their actions in local communities. The dynamics of corporate reputation are complex and evolving. Our employees and executives are proud to be ranked among the leaders since it affirms our ongoing focus on issues ranging from innovation to social responsibility.

There are 2 other interesting dynamics of this ranking that will be under the lead in of many of the announcements.

The first is that each company is also assigned a Reputation Quotient (RQ). The RQ rates a company’s reputation on 20 attributes (each measured on a 7-point scale) that fall into six key dimensions: Emotional Appeal, Products & Services, Social Responsibility, Vision & Leadership, Workplace Environment, and Financial Performance. Intel’s RQ score is above 80, which Harris defines as an “Excellent Reputation.”

Second, is the broad base of respondents. This list has been termed a “people’s choice” award due to its methodology. Harris first polls more than 7,000 people to identify the most “visible” reputations according to the general public. They then conduct more than 20,000 online interviews.

Intel was specifically called out as having a Top 5 Score in Vision & Leadership, Workplace Environment, Products & Services, and Financial Performance.

The best thing about all these types of ratings is that no matter how high we’re ranked, there are always areas to uncover new clues for continuous improvement.

Congratulations to Google and Johnson & Johnson for being #1 and #2. They give us something tangible to set our sights on.

Comments (4) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1779 2008-06-12T01:11:23Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

I’ve never been one to duck an issue. CSR in many circles tends to stick to friendly waters; however, real CSR conversations need to address real issues that might not always fit squarely in the green or citizenship arena. There...

Dave Stangis http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/profile_dave_stangis.php I’ve never been one to duck an issue. CSR in many circles tends to stick to friendly waters; however, real CSR conversations need to address real issues that might not always fit squarely in the green or citizenship arena.

There has been a lot of press in the last week or so focused on new developments in some of the investigations into Intel and the industry’s competitive practices. These may seem to be purely legal issues, but they definitely have an impact on external perceptions of our corporate responsibility reputation as evidenced in the most recent CRO Magazine profile on Intel.

So to lend a little clarity to our positions and responses to the current events, I sat down with our V.P. and General Counsel, Bruce Sewell to get his perspective on some of the recent events.

Dave Stangis. Last week the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shifted to a formal investigation into Intel’s competitive practices in the microprocessor market. And, the previous week the Korean FTC ruled against Intel and is seeking to hit us with a big fine. It feels like the legal scrutiny on Intel is increasing. Do you believe we compete unfairly?

Bruce Sewell. Let me answer your question with one word: No. Intel competes aggressively but completely fairly, ethically, and legally. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has been complaining for many years about the lower prices that we are able to give our customers in the form of discounts. These discounts are good for consumers.

Over the last seven years, microprocessor prices, adjusted for performance, have fallen on average more than 42% per year. We strongly believe that our pricing is fair— it is pro-consumer. And despite what AMD has at times complained publicly, we do not sell our products below cost.

So, our prices are good for consumers, but yes, they can be hard on AMD. The competition has driven both companies to work hard at becoming more efficient and better competitors. And we believe the proof of that is in the marketplace.

The market works. I’ve said it before: When our competitors perform and execute, the market rewards them. I don’t think I need to remind our customers that when AMD has in the past offered some highly competitive products—in the server space, for example— they did very well against us. It was a painful period for us. But that experience shows clearly that the market is functioning well. Naturally, the reverse is true, too. When AMD has faltered or underperformed, the market has responded accordingly.

One final point. AMD has been complaining to regulatory agencies in many geographies — in Asia, in Europe, in the U.S., and at the state level as well. Many of these agencies feel compelled to investigate when complaints such as these are made. But please don’t confuse a regulatory investigation or ruling with any kind of a legal finding.

Within the next year or so, the process will shift from administrative agencies—both in the U.S. and abroad— to the courts. We’re very confident that in the court system Intel will receive fair and equal treatment. In the end, with a fair and objective review, I am sure we will be vindicated.

Dave. But what about the U.S. FTC subpoena? Is this a sign that the government at least suspects we’ve engaged in anti-competitive practices?

Bruce. No, it is not. We’ve been fully cooperating with the FTC for more than two years, and have provided the agency thousands of pages of documents. We feel we have a good working relationship with the FTC.

It is apparent from public reports that the FTC has come under some criticism over the last year for not launching a formal investigation into the Intel/AMD matters.

This latest move allows the new FTC chairman to answer those complaints. And, of course, we will continue to cooperate fully.

Dave. In Korea, though, Intel was recently hit with a $26 million fine by the Korean FTC. What should be made of that?

Bruce. First, bear in mind that this was a regulatory decision, not a court case. We believe that the logic the commission used to arrive at its conclusion goes against established competition law and ignores the wealth of contradictory evidence that we provided.

The analysis and the process used by the Korean FTC appears driven in large part by the outcome they wanted to achieve.

We are planning to appeal through one of several routes when we have the final opinion in hand, most likely in about 45 days. And this is important to underscore. We will have an opportunity to present all of our evidence before an independent court. That court will review the case from scratch and reach an independent decision based on the full facts and laws.

Dave. If, in fact, we’ve done nothing wrong, why do you think our competitor is meeting with much apparent success? At the very least, it seems they’re scoring on the PR front.

Bruce. Our competitor has indeed presented itself as a victim of competitive bullying. But nothing could be further from the truth.

If Intel and AMD were roughly the same size, most likely no one would pay much attention to these complaints. But because Intel is a much larger and more successful company, I believe that AMD can get a first hearing when they might not otherwise.

Dave. Is “antitrust” interpreted differently in different parts of the world?

Bruce. Yes. However, we strongly believe that we’ve done business in all parts of the world legally and have fully complied with the competitive laws of every jurisdiction in which we do business.

But at the same time, this whole area of the law is under a lot of scrutiny right now. Lawyers and scholars around the world are asking where the lines should be drawn between consumers’ rights to lower prices through competition and a company’s desire to be protected from tough competition.

The law in the U.S. is really quite clear— big companies and small companies alike are strongly encouraged to compete, and to compete aggressively.

In Europe and Asia, however, the law is much more ambiguous about whether the role of the law is to protect consumers or to protect smaller competitors.

We don’t have an answer from the Europeans yet. But so far the Asian enforcement agencies seem to be leaning more heavily in favor of protecting competitors rather than protecting competition. These agencies tend to be very conservative and focused on the outdated ways of looking at competition and the law.

As I’ve said, the real resolutions will come in court. In the U.S. that will happen in the early part of 2010. In Korea, which is the only place in the world where we have an appealable order, that will also happen sometime in late 2009 or 2010.

Thanks Bruce.

This may be more than you expect in a CSR blog, but I think corporate responsibility means just that.

Comments (4) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1775 2008-06-11T02:58:01Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

Some high level panelists and speakers from IDC, Microsoft, Sun, IBM, InfoWorld, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Intel and other reputable places will begin a series of on-line debates about the challenges and opportunities of energy efficient computing....

Dave Stangis http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/profile_dave_stangis.php Some high level panelists and speakers from IDC, Microsoft, Sun, IBM, InfoWorld, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Intel and other reputable places will begin a series of on-line debates about the challenges and opportunities of energy efficient computing.

Now, don’t expect a lot of Al Gore or Bush Administration positioning, polar bears or penguins, carbon sequestration, or even cap and trade. These debates are for those folks that might get excited about…

-Alternating Current (AC) vs. Direct Current (DC) Power: Which power architecture is best? How efficient are they really? Where would one use DC instead of AC? Is high-efficiency AC as good as DC? Isn’t it easier to do? What about safety? Can we mix types? Cost to build? TCO? Reliability?

-Liquid vs. Air Cooling: We all know water is a better heat transfer fluid than air; does that make liquid cooling more efficient than air cooling? What does liquid cooling mean? Rack level, server level, or chip level? Isn’t a data center with airflow segregation more efficient than standard air cooling? What about the cost to buy and cost to run? Leaks and reliability?

-Thick vs. Thin Clients: The debaters will discuss the TCO analysis and energy efficiency of a thin client model versus their thicker alternatives.

So don’t say I didn’t warn you up front. This may not be for the CSR mainstream, but if you know the energy profile of AC vs. DC and what TCO means when it comes to thin clients – this might be for you.

If you are unable to join this event, please post any questions or comments that you may have for the speakers and we’ll be sure to pass them along. You can follow the online livecast here.

For additional detail please visit the registration page for the Eco-Technology Great Debate (no registration required for online attendees).

Comments (0) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1768 2008-06-06T04:26:53Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

Everybody knows that a company’s people are an important audience/stakeholder group to keep in mind when building strong CSR programs. Retention, satisfaction and productivity, it can be argued, are enhanced when people are aware of good things their employer...

Perry Gruber http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/perry_l_gruber.php Everybody knows that a company’s people are an important audience/stakeholder group to keep in mind when building strong CSR programs. Retention, satisfaction and productivity, it can be argued, are enhanced when people are aware of good things their employer does to be a good corporate citizen. Good pay helps too. So do nice incentives. At Intel we have both. There are many incentives I could write about, but this post is focused on one particular incentive that’s got me, well, smiling broadly: the Intel Sabbatical. Why focus on this one? Because my Sabbatical begins tomorrow.

As you probably can guess from the sound of the word, “Sabbatical” has Biblical roots. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary (research has gotten so easy with the advent of the Internet), it refers to a period set forth in Mosaic Law. After six years, land was to remain untilled and debtors and slaves released in the seventh year. Presumably the land would go back into service and the debtors and slaves would have to be rounded up and put back to work in year eight. But boy! The freedom they’d enjoy on their sabbatical!

I will avoid the obvious allusions between employees and “debtors and slaves,” and instead get to the point: generally, every Intel full time employed person in the U.S. is eligible for an eight week period away from work after a seven year service. This sabbatical period, according to program overview documents, is “not a benefit earned for past service, but an incentive for continued service.”

Tacking an eight week sabbatical at the end of seven years service is a pretty nice incentive to having a person return in year eight. In the time of Moses, I surmise that the idea behind the sabbatical was to let the land go fallow so it could refresh, rejuvenate. I suppose in the same way Intel want’s me to go fallow…to rejuvenate…and come back with new ideas and fresh perspectives. Indeed, that’s basically what the official document says the program’s all about.

So, what will I do with all that time off? Travel to exotic lands? Learn to fly? Or laze around like a bum? Well, mostly, I’m going to enjoy the time, work on a novel that’s begging to be born and visit my folks. Oh, I’m also going to go fallow. And while I do that, I’ll let my cubicle to go fallow too. And while all that fallowing will remind me that no matter what people say (including myself), Intel remains one of the best companies to work for.

More posts when I return in August.

*(I love that word. It’s even better said aloud. Here, listen for yourself)

Comments (2) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1767 2008-06-05T23:50:18Z 2008-08-12T19:45:55Z

It’s been pretty clear to me that the concept of CSR as a business innovation tool and differentiator among companies is important to more c-suite executives than just the CEO. I’ve had some conversations over the past year with everyone...

Dave Stangis http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/profile_dave_stangis.php It’s been pretty clear to me that the concept of CSR as a business innovation tool and differentiator among companies is important to more c-suite executives than just the CEO. I’ve had some conversations over the past year with everyone from the chairman to CIO, CMO, COO and CFOs of either my company or other companies about CSR as a business strategy.

Next week, I’m headed to Houston to participate and speak at the CFO Executive Summit put on by a company called Evanta. The conference and agenda is developed by CFOs for CFOs and is part of a regional network of similar events.

I’m actually looking forward to learning as much as sharing in this meeting. I’ve sensed that executives up and down the corporate hierarchy, regardless of region or geography are looking for the best ways to make CSR or Sustainability fit within their own organizations. And in my experience, the CFO is applying the most “no-nonsense” approach to the CSR business case of all the c-suite positions. They aren’t looking for the Al Gore business case – they are looking for the long-term investor business case.

I guarantee that you will be seeing more and more CFOs talking about the value that a CSR decision lens brings to their stockholders and long-term market capitalization in the next few years.

Comments (1) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1766 2008-06-05T08:50:09Z 2008-08-11T18:59:51Z

It’s not often that any of us mortals get to be in royal company, but that’s where I found myself a few days ago (metaphorically speaking). Just as I finished working on the Intel CSR report for the META (Middle...

Revital Bitan http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/profile_revital_bitan.php It’s not often that any of us mortals get to be in royal company, but that’s where I found myself a few days ago (metaphorically speaking). Just as I finished working on the Intel CSR report for the META (Middle East, Turkey and Africa) region, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordon announced the formation of the Arab Sustainability Leadership Group(ASLG), the first of its kind from the region to commit to sustainability and reporting.

The Queen made the announcement in her keynote address at the Amsterdam (GRI) Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency. She also appealed to the audience of over 1,000 global business leaders to make Arab youth part of their social equity agenda. At Intel, we see great potential in all youth and therefore invest significantly in educational programs. We believe that students everywhere deserve the chance to develop their skills to become innovators. The report provides a broad view of our great CSR activities in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, focusing on Education programs.

Comments (1) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1759 2008-06-02T17:45:45Z 2008-08-04T17:54:36Z

In recognition of Intel’s 40th Anniversary, Intel employees around the world are donating a million hours of community service - at least that’s the goal. Having previously been on a, “What are we going to do to celebrate this anniversary”...

Gary Niekerk http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/profile_garys_niekirk.php In recognition of Intel’s 40th Anniversary, Intel employees around the world are donating a million hours of community service - at least that’s the goal. Having previously been on a, “What are we going to do to celebrate this anniversary” committee, I know the pain and agony of trying to come up with ideas (gifts, parties, memory books, etc.) that employees really appreciate and value. What normally happens is half the employees don’t like your ideas, and the other half are upset that you spent the money and time in the first place.

That’s why I really like this give back to the community idea as it seems like a real Win – Win for Intel employees and the community. Furthermore, there is some recent research suggesting that giving to others, in this case small amounts of money, increases the happiness of the giver.

Michael Norton (Harvard), Elizabeth Dunn & Lara Akninand (University of British Columbia); in their article, “Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness,” (Science - March 21, 2008) found an association with giving, with increased happiness in the giver. “Our findings suggest that very minor alterations in spending allocations—as little as $5 in our final study—may be sufficient to produce non-trivial gains in happiness on a given day.” Yet, think of getting a $5 increase in your pay at work - - that doesn’t release too many endorphins too the brain now does it(?) So maybe our employees will be the big winners after all with this year’s 40th anniversary celebration, as they will be more happy after giving back?

Comments (0) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1750 2008-05-30T19:36:00Z 2008-07-30T21:31:00Z

Next week I’ll be up in Minneapolis to deliver a few presentations at the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s annual conference. I think I’ve mentioned in this blog before that my path to CSR/Sustainability went through the areas of environmental engineering...

Dave Stangis http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/profile_dave_stangis.php Next week I’ll be up in Minneapolis to deliver a few presentations at the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s annual conference. I think I’ve mentioned in this blog before that my path to CSR/Sustainability went through the areas of environmental engineering and employee health and safety for quite a while. Industrial Hygiene is a name born far too long ago, but its standard definition still holds - “the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of those environmental factors or stresses arising in or from the workplace, which may cause sickness, impaired health and well-being among workers or among the citizens of the community.” A more contemporary description can be found here.

Several thousand environmental, health and safety professionals gather each year to get caught up on the latest trends and research. This group comes from the public and private sectors as well as academic and government arenas and has placed CSR/Sustainability near the top of its agenda in terms of being adequately prepared in the 21st century workplace.

Scattered throughout their sessions on disaster recovery, health and wellness, nanomaterials, and ergonomics, I’ve been asked to come and help cover some topics ranging from Sustainability 101, the G3 standard and transparency, and implementing sustainability in a global MNC.

It’s a good opportunity for me to remind myself of some of the foundations of CSR. If companies can’t operate in an environmentally responsible way and send their employees home in at least as good shape as they arrived to the workplace, how can they ever expect to be true CSR leaders? Sometimes with all the external focus on communicating CSR and competition over who has the best branded social entrepreneurship program, I hope companies aren’t taking their eye off their own operations.

Let’s face it; you have to be a CSR leader inside your own walls before you can be perceived as a CSR leader by others.

Comments (0) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1735 2008-05-21T20:29:55Z 2008-07-16T21:35:52Z

“Are you kidding me?” She must have said it like five times. She was one of the educators that was invited and flown to Georgia by Intel to participate in Intel’s educator academy telling me about a gift basket from...

Hitesh Barot “Are you kidding me?” She must have said it like five times. She was one of the educators that was invited and flown to Georgia by Intel to participate in Intel’s educator academy telling me about a gift basket from Intel now in her hotel room. Included within was some cash — straight up cash – for expenses. “Not a gift card,” she emphasized, “cash. – Are you kidding me!” she asked. Four words that had been running through my mind all week. Let me elaborate:

Intel ISEF

I mean, seriously, what am I doing here? $100,000,000 a year spent on Education? Is this for real? Tens of millions more in long term sponsorship for a science and engineering fair? Where am I? Who does this? Don’t get me wrong, I did a lot of pro bono at my old law firm Bingham McCutchen, and they were a fantastic corporate citizen, but this is a whole new universe of Corporate Social Responsibility.

I was privileged to have witnessed a week of magic at Intel’s International Science and Engineering Fair. Two hours ago, the event capped off with grand prizes and awards, and although I didn’t have a dog in the race, so to speak, I was on an emotional roller coaster nonetheless. Wow! Are you kidding me? I am still coming down off the high and wanted to capture my thoughts, while I was here in Atlanta (read: Oz) before I fly back to Santa Clara (Kansas).

As I catch my breath, let me recount some the highlights:

Two memorable moments from the Intel Educator Academy Student Panel as they discussed challenges and triumphs of their journey (read: The Life as a Genius Panel)

• A teacher is asking how we, in academia, should spot the few talented ones – like you — in our classes? A 16 year old Chinese student answers (and I am paraphrasing here what she said, but you could feel exactly what she was saying and it felt like this): Rather than looking for the talent, you should cultivate it, have activities that are different that appeal to the talent that necessarily exists in all kids. We are all diamonds, just shine us, mold us, and give us a space where we can sparkle. (Bravo, you sweet brilliant human being! A pin dropped far in the corner of the room and everyone heard it. Kleenex anyone?)

• In response to a question on how he is dealing with the sacrifices he necessarily (the questioner assumed) made in the social arena like friends and parties while he researched in a college lab while juggling high school: My mom is a single parent and I have learned a lot about work life balance. My twin brother is captain football team and I am president of my speech and debate team this year. I also have a rule that I don’t do research on Friday and Saturday nights. I may stay up till 4 AM on other nights but on Friday and Saturday I just chill with friends. [High Schoolers are talking work life balance? I only heard about it in law school for the first time (and btw, just shoot me because you are so sure of your self that you decided not to apply to Harvard because you didn’t want to go there when (not if) you got in there.)]

Day 1: Opening Ceremonies:

Doc B runs onto stage to a rousing rock star welcome and throws memorabilia to adoring fans; they even ask him for the hat off his head. Some kids even fought each other for his sweaty hand towel. Seriously? The chairman of Intel – a huge icon for teenagers? It’s Intel ISEF, baby, and if you don’t know Dr. Barrett, you don’t know nothin! The Society for Science and the Public’s science and engineering fair has been around for over 50 years and Intel has been the grand sponsor for over a decade; Doc B has been a fixture at every single one since Intel came on board. He exudes passion; he lives for this stuff. He is jumping around on stage, high-fiving everyone, and even though the kids could probably graph the change in amplitude of a sinusoidal wave in their sleep, they put their pencils aside and rise up under Doc B’s guidance and perform a human wave that races around the cavernous Georgia World Congress Convention Center. Intel ISEF is just one of a myriad of projects Intel and Intel Foundation support to engender a love for math and sciences for youth all around the world.

Doc B introduces Phillipe Cousteau Jr., a veritable icon in his own right, but also grandson to legendary underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau. Phillipe, cofounder of Earth Echo International, continues the work of his father and grandfather by educating the public about environmental and conservation issues while inspiring individuals to become better stewards of the planet. On top of all that he has accomplished for the planet …his rugged good looks have the ladies going doubly wild! Can someone turn up the AC in here? Phillipe explained that studying the underwater ecosystem took a back seat to space exploration in the late 60s. And now, he lamented, we devote millions trying to figure out if Mars ever had water in the first place when Earth may soon lose all of its usable water. Water really is the next oil. (Talk about inspiring young minds to do something.)

After that, half a dozen Nobel laureates, living legends in their fields, are acknowledged for their contributions. They are later featured on a panel where they doled out advice and inspiration by the kilo. The Governor of Georgia comes out to say hello and pay respects to the assembled crowd and the night gets better and better as introductions are made of the participating regions –almost like the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

Each of the 51 countries, regions and territories that are participating at ISEF have ethnically/regionally clad representatives.

The stage is full, the crowd is going wild and we learn that over 1557 students will be judged and considered for the over $4 million in cash and prizes to be given out over the week for 17 categories of entries.

To paraphrase Doc B’s resonant message: Get a good education and have personal integrity. No one can take those away from you. They will open more doors for you than wealthy parents or influential connections ever could.

The marathon walk through: Doc B has been pre-scheduled to visit 5 or 6 projects. As he walks from one exhibit to another, he is inundated by unscheduled teens clamoring for him to check out their project as well. And you know what, he goes and visits the exhibits for every student who asks him to! He just flew in from like the Middle East, has to do two interviews with CNN later today, and then flies off to Jakarta in less than 14 hours. Yet, he walks around miles of booths to witness all the kids’ projects. He engages the kids, asks them on-the-money questions, makes them laugh and gives them his undivided attention. Parting with sincere words of encouragement, he poses for dozens of pictures, signs autographs and then moves on to the next lucky student who is fortunate to host Doc B. The award ceremonies are a week away but he leaves these kids gushing like they’ve already won!! Hardly anyone in his entourage can keep up with him, and this 68 year old former Stanford professor and former Intel CEO has every reason to have throngs of groupies flock him!

Heck, with about 150 salaried people working on Education initiatives like Intel ISEF, Intel Learn, Intel Teach and Intel Clubhouse, I keep asking myself if this chip company is for real. Let me get this straight: Intel sells microprocessors, right? And yet they have flown approximately 120 educators and dignitaries from about 25 countries participate in an Educator Academy to share best known methods for increasing the efficiency of the impact of Intel’s teaching initiatives; like Intel Teach, that has already trained over 5,000,000 (yeah that says 5 million) teachers worldwide. Seriously?

Day 2-4: The Science Fair:

I stroll through the booths and catch myself looking down, thinking to myself, “Don’t make eye-contact; just like animals that sense fear, they’ll see right through you and know how dumb you are.” These kids were amazing, I mean, I graduated from the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley, but still I felt totally small walking through those hallways. Then, far away I saw the title of a booth that looked like I could maybe engage with the student. Stage-Specific Expression of Peroxidase Enzymes. It seemed innocuous, I had taken Molecular Cell Biology at Berkeley and I knew enzymes… but as I got closer, there was more to the sign:

Stage-Specific Expression of Peroxidase Enzymes In Wound-healing Potato Tubers.

This kid was studying stages of enzyme expression in wound-healing potatoes! Are you kidding me? I took a picture of the sign and kept walking.

The range of entries ran the gamut: yes there were robots and hovercrafts (par for the course), but also some really ingenious ones. Two examples:

There was the boy who built a device that makes a computer cursor move with impulses from your brain; instead of putting sensors in your brain itself, he made a machine that reads signals through your forehead. He said plainly it made sense to have people avoid putting sensors on/in their brain if it could be done on the outside. (Of course, my friend, of course it does).

Two 14 year old Gujarati girls made markers with bio degradable non-toxic ink made out of vegetable products. Just as bright as regular markers, super affordable, and on the upside if your toddler accidentally sucks on the highlighter… no worries: just skip juice-time.

Day 5: Awards ceremonies

Potential energy fills the halls, as if a thunder bolt could spontaneously manifest from all the different charges in the auditorium. At the one extreme, some contestants are wound so tight that even though only the top 15% of the kids get 1st or 2nd place, the girl sitting behind me who got second place couldn’t stop crying because she won second place instead of first. She genuinely expected to win: she had never lost. On the other hand, there were those kids who were soaking it all up and were just glad to be there regardless of how they finished. There was a whole lot of regional pride. Flags waving and people chanting and singing in different languages; it truly was a cultural experience.

An anxious audience, with parents perspiring, teachers tearing up, and students slowly reacting, shocked into disbelief, “Was that really my name?” Whole sections of people exploding when the name of the region was called out pushing their winner out into action and up on stage. Unbelievable! There is the tiny kid, the giant one, the nerdier than all hell one standing right next to the one who could’ve been a model; next up are the two teammates still holding each others’ trembling hands. There’s the kid from Denmark crying tears of joy, and the girl from the Midwest crying only because he is crying. The Puerto Rican who is proudly holding up the flag while Argentina is in the house screaming, and don’t forget the guys from Mankato, Michigan. At graduation ceremonies, I usually know at least one person, here I didn’t know anyone and yet, I would trade any graduation ceremony for this awards ceremony.

Last thoughts – Imagine, Discover, Innovate – the theme of Intel ISEF

Imagine a world where kids outnumbered adults, and enthusiasm and hope filled the air. That is the place where I lived this last week at Intel ISEF. I discovered so much about what the company does for education. It is no wonder Intel has won so many Corporate Social Responsibility awards. Intel is constantly innovating the way it implements its educational initiatives. For example, check out the credentials of one of the speakers: he had done his PhD working on supercomputers but soon after spent a couple years in helping set up community computing in the rural mountain regions of Thailand, then he did a couple of years doing computer training in Southern India (before Bangalore was Bangalore), and now he is studying the use of internet and computers in the healing of communities in post conflict regions – he is working in post civil war Liberia. These kinds of people actually exist, I shook his hand and he was for real; he shared lessons from his experiences with the Intel Educators. He pointed out that as education in a country increases, so does its GNP, its average life expectancy and so much more. That’s when it clicked – education is where it all begins, it’s where dollars spent can have the most impact. It all starts to make sense now.

I know I am only employee number 1126###5 and have had merely 10 office days under my belt at Intel; but if this is working for the man, than I am prouder than hell to work for this man. And seriously, I am not kidding you.

Comments (1) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1730 2008-05-21T06:00:04Z 2008-07-16T21:35:52Z

I’ve always liked this saying, but what does it really mean for a company? I know what it means to me personally, but let’s try to translate that to a company with more than 85.000 employees in close to 50...

Dave Stangis http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/profile_dave_stangis.php I’ve always liked this saying, but what does it really mean for a company? I know what it means to me personally, but let’s try to translate that to a company with more than 85.000 employees in close to 50 countries.

Leadership plays out differently for different businesses, organizations and geographies. Just consider what might be expected of leading companies today based on where they operate, what they sell, or who they employ. Those expectations are constantly changing.

We’ve chosen “With Leadership Comes Responsibility” as the title of our latest Corporate Responsibility Report – just published. A lot has changed in the CSR/Sustainability space in just the past couple years and the definition of leadership has changed with it.

Our employees around the world have contributed their time and talents to make Intel the company it is today, but they aren’t satisfied with what they’ve achieved. They want increased environmental performance in both our operations and out products. They want to see continued improvements in their workplaces and in cross-company and -sector collaboration. And, they want us to put out knowledge and expertise to work on making peoples lives better, regardless of where they live – and make a profit while doing so.

Our latest report is another step in our ever-evolving strategy to communicate the most important information in a format our stakeholders are asking for. A tabular introduction to the report can be found on Intel’s Corporate Responsibility Homepage. In addition, readers can download the entire report or specific sections based on their interest.

This year’s report includes information on our most important corporate responsibility areas: environment, workplace, education, community, and supply chain management. Based on stakeholder feedback, we have also expanded our discussion on our approach to defining materiality and CSR management in a new Management Strategy and Analysis section. A few highlights presented in this year’s report include:

• Recognitions including being the only U.S. company named as a Supersector Leader by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and capturing the #1 spot in our industry on CRO Magazine’s Best Corporate Citizens list.
• Environmental performance improvements in our operations including the recycling or reuse of more than 80% of waste generated and reclaiming more than 3 billion gallons of water annually.
• Surpassing the milestone of training 5 million teachers in more than 40 countries in the Intel® Teach Program on effectively integrating technology and project-based learning into their classrooms.
• Achieving a worldwide employee volunteerism rate of 38%. Hours for education efforts alone surpassed 550,000 hours, netting $2.9 million in matching grants for local schools and Intel Computer Clubhouses.
• Expanding our Health for Life wellness program to help employees and their families better manage their health risks and maintaining our performance at world-class safety levels compared to industry benchmarks.
• Promoting supply chain responsibility through our role in the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and completing over 100 high-level risk assessments of our suppliers, representing 80% of purchasing spends.

These are not the results of a faceless corporation, but the result of all Intel employees making the company better one step at a time. Just in the first few months of 2008, we have begun to see some great new results, including being named to the #1 spot on CRO Magazine’s 2008 100 Best Corporate Citizens List, becoming the largest corporate purchaser of Green Power in the U.S. according to the U.S. EPA, and kicking off an ambitious employee volunteer campaign to give back 1 million hours of service in our communities to celebrate our 40th anniversary.

I view my responsibility as a leader in fairly simple terms – help show my company the future and do my best to get them there. A company’s responsibility as a leader is of course a little more complex – but our employees are the key to getting us to that future.

I hope you enjoy the report and I welcome any feedback you may have on any aspect of it.

Comments (4) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1725 2008-05-19T21:23:30Z 2008-07-16T21:35:52Z

Every so often someone will tell me my job sounds glamorous – those people usually aren’t lawyers and rarely work for large corporations. The fact is that as General Counsel a lot of my time is spent dealing with a...

Bruce Sewell http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2008/01/profile_bruce_sewell.php Every so often someone will tell me my job sounds glamorous – those people usually aren’t lawyers and rarely work for large corporations. The fact is that as General Counsel a lot of my time is spent dealing with a more challenging side of our business. I’m not complaining of course – it comes with the territory – but it’s the reason why days like I had last week are so incredibly special.

Last week, I traded in my courtroom suit for some evening wear and headed down to Los Angeles for the annual William O. Douglas dinner. William Douglas remains to this day the longest serving Justice on the United States Supreme Court (1939 – 1975). His legacy in American jurisprudence is a fierce defense of the rights of the individual and a passionate commitment to the plight of the poor and underrepresented in our society. Several years ago, Public Counsel, the largest philanthropic association of lawyers and judges in California, endowed an honorarium in Douglas’ name. Each year Public Counsel holds a fund raising dinner where they present one outstanding individual with the William O. Douglas Award, and one outstanding corporation with the Public Counsel Corporate Achievement Award. This year the recipient of the William O. Douglas award was Marion Wright Edelman, President and Founder of the Children’s Defense Fund – and, as you may have guessed, the Corporate Achievement Award went to Intel.

The event itself was pretty spectacular. You can see photos from the event and read the press release herehttp://www.publiccounsel.org/dd2008photos.htm

Roughly 1500 attendees, Jay Leno as the emcee, a beautiful setting in LA, and to top it all off, the event raised $2.5M for public interest programs. My role was to accept the Corporate Achievement Award on behalf of Intel and our employees. I am proud of Intel every day, and in the end what matters most is our employees feel proud of what we are doing. I have to tell you that it sure feels good when other people also recognize the amazing things we do and the amazing spirit of our employees. To stand on a public stage and accept an award for some of the good things we do as a company has a way of putting the tougher parts of my job into perspective.

I’d like our employees to remember the next time you hear or read something critical of Intel, or you start to wonder if all the hard work is really worth it, remind yourself that in cities, towns and villages all over the world from Los Angeles, California to a rural community in Nigeria, there are people in need who see our company as one that is offering some hope and opportunity. And I want to thank our employees for the work they do every day and for letting me represent this great company at events like this from time to time.

Comments (4) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1721 2008-05-19T17:17:15Z 2008-06-24T03:18:50Z

I presented at a small conference on Corporate Sustainability in San Francisco earlier this month on the challenges of marketing and communicating “green”. The presentation was a lot of fun and the audience was very engaged—we all seemed to have...

Gary Niekerk http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2007/06/profile_garys_niekirk.php I presented at a small conference on Corporate Sustainability in San Francisco earlier this month on the challenges of marketing and communicating “green”. The presentation was a lot of fun and the audience was very engaged—we all seemed to have a good time discussing the topic. My premise on why communicating green is so difficult is that when you speak on how green your company or your product is, what you are REALLY saying is how less bad you are—which I argue is a tough message to sell.

Almost all companies have a net-negative impact on the environment, and I would argue almost all people, or at least the ones that I know. We eat food, we consume energy, we produce waste, and some of us have children which perpetuates the whole cycle. Consequently, when you talk about your “greenness”, you are actually speaking about having less negative impact, and that my friends doesn’t fit nicely with a typical marketing campaign. When a company speaks about their green features, without discussing the other side of the equation, it can breed cynicism and skepticism. I’m not advocating that you don’t do it; I’m just stating that it’s really tricky.

What made my presentation really interesting is I followed a presentation made by Fiji Water on their efforts to go carbon negative. It was a very good presentation and the presenter from Fiji Water did an excellent job discussing all of their sustainability efforts; however, the notion of a bottle water company going carbon negative didn’t sit well with all of the attendees in the room, and there was a lot of passionate discussion on the presentation.

Fortunately for me, all of the energy in the room generated from the previous topic was good for my presentation which was delivered on a Friday afternoon, so I could use the help. Furthermore, the bottle water discussion really emphasized my point about the challenges of green marketing and communication. What do you think about this topic?

Comments (0) ]]> tag:blogs.intel.com,2008:/csr//16.1720 2008-05-19T16:45:13Z 2008-06-24T03:18:50Z

Traveling the world it is not uncommon to see poverty and people living in conditions that are almost unimaginable. It is especially striking when you see young people with seemingly no hope to get an education that might allow them...

Craig Barrett http://blogs.intel.com/csr/2008/05/profile_craig_barrett.php Traveling the world it is not uncommon to see poverty and people living in conditions that are almost unimaginable. It is especially striking when you see young people with seemingly no hope to get an education that might allow them to rise above the barriers that poverty imposes. Our World Ahead program has been focusing on the issue of how technology might help the poor attain a better education and improved health care. To date the effort has met with notable success in places as diverse as Egypt, Brazil, India and Lebanon. People are getting better health care where only limited resources existed before. Young children are experiencing the internet and an opportunity for life changing education. You can see the changes real time and feel the impact. It makes you know that you are doing the right thing.

While education and health care are rather straightforward to influence it is always more challenging to attempt to lift people out of poverty. Any effort has to be more than a simple handout – it has to be sustainable and consistent with basic needs and environmental circumstance.

The effort by Grameen and Muhammad Yunus which provided microfinancing to poor villagers in Bangladesh is a classic example of a successful and sustainable program to allow the poor to help themselves. Often utilizing cell phone capacity that was purchased wholesale and then resold at the local level, villagers (often women with little or no education) were able to make a comfortable living. The program is a model for local economic improvement and was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2006.

Building on the Grameen experience, Intel has decided to form a joint venture with Yunus and his Foundation to bring computers and the internet to rural impoverished communities. The business model is remarkably similar to the Grameen ‘phone ladies’. Financing will be provided at the local level to allow individuals to buy computers, printers and internet access. These individuals can then act as a village resource to sell services that would not otherwise be available. Initially services such as telemedicine, simple financial transactions, education and training and others are envisioned. The service business will be entrepreneurial, sustainable, and a benefit to the local community.

Here Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Founder & Managing Director Grameen Bank, Nobel Peace Laureate speaks about this joint venture:

Our intention is to treat this as a social business. Loans will be repaid, funds will be reinvested in more microfinancing, and the intent of the JV will be to help people, not make a profit. If successful, poor people who might never have had the opportunity to outgrow poverty will become small business owners and self sufficient. Intel’s benefit will be twofold. First there is the indirect benefit that ultimately there will be future customers for our product who would not have existed without this program. And secondly, there is the knowledge that we are doing the right thing to help those in need of assistance.

Personally I am excited about the prospects of this JV. We will be helping people that our technology might never otherwise touch and doing it in a way that is sustainable. If successful, it is something that we can all be proud of.

Comments (3) ]]>