Whats shakin on shakedown street

2006-03-29T12:53:00.000-08:00

The airline industry is truly leading the way, organizing many unique programs that benefit some of the most impoverished countries in the world. Because this industry serves as a nexus for intercontinental travel, they have a responsibility to assist the surrounding communities with which they serve. Consequently, I have ranked the top three airlines that value these principles the most, and that have effectively implemented plans to aid regions in need.

British Airways is number one on the list for its extensive corporate social outreach throughout the world. With numerous programs such as Tourism for Tomorrow, Change for Good, Communities and Conservation, and Action for Street Children, just to name a few; it’s no wonder why British Airways is deserving of this ranking. The Change for Good program enables passengers to donate unwanted foreign coins and bills while on board. Partnering with UNICEF, this program has raised more than 21 million pounds since 1994, with the first donation to Tanzania for health and education projects as well as HIV/AIDS prevention. Additionally, the Action for Street Children program encourages staff members to volunteer, assisting children in countries like Bulgaria, Brazil, Zambia, and India by raising the children’s self-esteem through music, sports, and painting. http://www.britishairways.com/travel/comrelemployee/public/en_gb

Singapore Airlines ranks number two behind British Airways for their continuing dedication in assisting people who need help. Programs like the Community Chest of Singapore, Movement for the Intellectual Disabled of Singapore (MINDS), and the Cabin Crew Club for Community Care are just some of the numerous programs enacted in recent years. Furthermore, Singapore Airlines spearheaded the country’s first dialysis center in 1987, with a hefty donation to the National Kidney Foundation. MINDS is also one of the most revolutionary social programs of its kind. After a 4 million dollar donation, workshops, special education schools, training facilities, and residential homes were established to service the needs of more than 2400 intellectually disabled people in Singapore. http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/content/company_info/responsibility/welfare.jsp

Qatar Airways rounds out the rankings for airlines that value their corporate social responsibility, and demonstrate these beliefs through action. In the wake of the recent tsunami disaster, Qatar Airways has pledged their support to help reconstruct the battered fishing village of Jambuwatte, located 80 km south of Colombo, the capital or Sri Lanka. With the assistance of Habitat International, Qatar Airways has begun rebuilding 25 homes and constructing a community centre as well. http://www.qatarairways.com/6.2375.0.0.1.0.htm

Although their projects may differ, these airlines intentions are quite similar. When dealing with the multibillion dollar airline industry, one might expect some sort of social outreach by each airline; however, BA, SA, and QA have all gone the extra step by truly lending a helping hand. These airlines have established a number of programs, and donated millions of dollars to assist people all around the world, and for this reason they should be recognized.

2006-03-27T13:55:00.000-08:00

In today’s ever growing travel industry, factors other than profit maximization are beginning to take weight. Corporate social responsibility is an integral facet to a firm’s overall productivity because companies have realized that they need to think on a much broader level, analyzing how their decisions will not only affect shareholders, but stakeholders as well. With that being said, here are the top three socially conscious businesses in the hotel, airline, and online provider industries.

Marriott International leads the hotel group with respect to their CSR ranking. In addition to Marriott’s 53^rd ranking in Business Ethics 100 best corporate citizens, (http://www.businessethics.com/whats_new/100_best_corporate_citizens_chart_2005.pdf) the company has truly made some groundbreaking steps to place themselves above the competition. Most importantly, Marriott’s welfare-to-work program truly sets it apart from any other corporation. For the past 15 years, the Pathways program has enabled numerous publicly assisted people a chance to train and learn about the hotel industry with over 150 hours of instruction, and upon successful completion the participants receive a full-time job with benefits (http://www.csrwire.com/article.cgi/521.html).

Next on the list is Starwood Hotels and Resorts. By setting up on online auction for many exotic getaways, Starwood donates all of these profits to their 900 displaced employees in the New Orleans area. This demonstrates just how strongly Starwood feels about its employees because so much attention is usually paid towards the consumer/guest. In this case however, Starwood directly assists both Katrina victims and their employees because unfortunately they are one in the same (http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/weblog/travel_tourism_industry/index.html).

Hilton Hotels completes the list for their innovative reward program, encouraging guests to convert their HHonors points and contribute them to a number of charitable organizations such as the American Red Cross and LA AIDS Walk to name a few (http://www.hotelresource.com/article21084.html).

The one unifying theme among all of these hotel chains is that they are taking the extra step to do something positive for their community. Although it would be very easy to simply make money and pay one’s employees, which many companies do, it is imperative to account for the surrounding communities as well, the stakeholders. Whether it’s through job opportunities, fundraising, optional donations, or anything else for that matter, a firm must keep their corporate social responsibility in mind if they wish to be successful in this day and age.

2006-02-22T12:44:00.001-08:00

As evident by the shear number of podcasts, the podcasting industry is growing rapidly; consequently, everyone wants a piece of the pie. Nowadays the real way to make money, at least in this specific field, is through advertising. Many companies are now trying to link potential sponsors with popular podcasts similar to GoogleAds. Kiptronic and Fruitcast are two examples that work remarkably similar to the Google program that features advertisers bidding on an open market for potential clients based on the specific podcast locale and topic of conversation.

Even though the podcasting market is just beginning to emerge, companies such as Virgin Atlantic and Whirlpool have already started to dabble. Furthermore, the NPR podcasts are now sponsored by Acura, a corporation with significant clout in the auto industry. Large businesses are even supporting low level podcasts, like the recently announced Best Buy sponsorship of “The Engadget Podcast”. On a lighter note, Nature’s Cure has apparently decided to offer financial backing to a 15 year old girl’s podcast, “Emotalk,” because apparently her show reaches their target demographic.

With the advent of ipods not too long ago, podcasting seems to merely be the next logical step in making virtually anything available at the click of a button. People involved with business for example, who are constantly traveling, will embrace podcasts because it’s the ultimate personal convenience to listen to your favorite radio show on your own time because it is already prerecorded on your ipod.

In addition, the youth movement, presently the largest group of ipod owners, will readily pick up the podcasting fever because more and more of their peers will begin to host podcasts, which in turn will cause more podcast downloads and future sponsors. When walking around a campus and seeing all the white headphones, it almost seems too easy to capitalize in this ever ripening market for college students. Students are extremely ambitious and creative; therefore, I don’t think it will take very long until podcasts are an integral facet of every college radio station, enabling students to listen to shows on their ipod that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to do until now.

Although it may be shameful to some that a 15 year old girl has a sponsor like Nature’s Cure, when others at 30 are still searching, but everyone needs to start somewhere and this only can mean good things for future podcasters.

Yoni

- Keep Shakin’

2006-02-22T12:44:00.000-08:00

Yoni

- Keep Shakin’