NetTrac Communications Inc. - News
Posted: August 20, 2009
No matter where we live, no matter where we look, there is always something that needs doing in every community. Around every corner, across the street or across the city, there are those that have not had or do not have the same opportunities we currently enjoy or have had in our lifetimes. What is our corporate responsibility to society? Is it just for large enterprise to be involved and aid those who are in need? What benefits us when we step up to volunteer our time or our services? These questions have been asked since the beginning of commerce and trade. The answers challenge our ethics and are steeped in controversy.
Some companies donate heartily to charitable organizations well others have found ways to offer time, services, support and direction to organizations that work to improve the life situations of literally millions of people around the world. Your niche could be providing a work space for literacy classes, or even helping someone cope with unbearable family tragedy in a face to face talk. Other companies have rallied their employees to support specific relief efforts or assist with raising funds for those in need of the items for their children that we often take for granted.
There are as many ways to be involved and provide support as there are needs in our society. Today company upon company are stepping up to meet the challenge of addressing these needs as it is becoming clear that governments can not possibly provide the overwhelming response that is needed. If you have traveled or worked in a developing nation you will have seen this first hand. If you haven’t had the opportunity to travel, you still need not look too far to find a way to do your part-even if you live in an urban area in a country with a high standard of living.
Taking Responsibility
Firstly, the idea of corporate responsibility for assisting society isn’t really new, but it isn’t really old either. Around the time of the Industrial Revolution in Germany and Britain, those less fortunate were left to fend for themselves if not entirely exploited by the private and public sectors alike. If you were poor or had no education, there was little hope for a prosperous and productive life. Very few agencies existed to help those disadvantaged by life. Even fewer in the business sector cared to assist. It’s just the way life was. But by the turn of the 20th century, it was becoming more apparent that there were benefits to be gained in playing a more active role. By the time the stock market crashed in the 1930’s and the Dust Bowl ravaged agricultural land across the Mid West United States, the picture was all too clear. Governments were ill prepared to deal with the masses of people that could be thrown into poverty by a fluke of nature or a loss of confidence in the financial sector. Economists of the time pointed to the need for a more ethical and humanitarian practice of business.
People are the common denominator of progress. So... no improvement is possible with unimproved people, and advance is certain when people are liberated and educated. It would be wrong to dismiss the importance of roads, railroads, power plants, mills, and the other familiar furniture of economic development.... But we are coming to realize... that there is a certain sterility in economic monuments that stand alone in a sea of illiteracy. Conquest of illiteracy comes first. --John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - 2006)
If Corporate America ignored societal issues of poverty, education and mass unemployment, they in turn ignored their very own markets. So there was the self-serving answer. Get involved as it helps to have a market that can afford to buy your product. Today, thankfully, things are a little more community oriented and come from the heart. But the under-lying premise is that to help our fellow man helps us all. Of this there can be no doubt. So there is a real responsibility to look out for our brothers and sisters all over the world. So how do you take that first step?
Getting Started
There are so many worth-while charities and non government organizations that play a vital role in making our world a little better. All of them would be grateful for a small donation annually to help support whatever their cause, or even better a donation of your time to do some volunteer work.
The best place to start is with your staff. Ask them about their communities and organizations they know about that do good charitable work. Sit down and work out which cause everybody can get behind and support. Sometimes you will be surprised to find that your staff are already getting involved at some level and will have lots of information and contacts within various organizations. The next step is to get buy-in from as many of your staff as you can. Put a team together. You need to let them know the need to help is real and that there are many ways then can be involved if they so choose. First of all, it can be fun and helps to build your company’s team spirit as well as providing a welcome diversion that can help your key staff reduce their job related stress. After your team has worked out what you can afford in time, funds and services, it is time to meet with key members of the organization you have chosen.
How you Benefit the Most
You should not be shocked to find out they will welcome not only your assistance, but your ideas, your commitment, and your willingness to be involved. What follows will be perhaps one of the most rewarding experiences you will ever have as business owner/manager: Being involved in your community and helping to make a difference in our world, in your children’s world.
Usually, once you have past this initial point, there will be no looking back. Not only will you enjoy the friendship of many like-minded people, but you will be able to take an active role that will keep bringing you new challenges and rewarding results for years to come, not to mention the pride you can feel as a responsible corporate citizen. Also, you never know, but something good might happen and you could just meet that new business client or industry partner you have been looking for!
At NetTrac, we have endeavored to be an active participant in supporting our communities through the usual channels such as making donations to United Way, or supporting local minor sports teams. It was not until we opened our South East Asia office over a year ago that we really found a charitable cause we could really put our hearts into. ( More about this in some future article.) The point to be made is that you should never let helping out be on the back burner or shelved. Sometime, someplace, you will find a way to help that you can enjoy and really care about -- but in the meantime, if all you can do is buy some jerseys for your son’s hockey team.. it’s still worth it. Even if you have to get up at 5am on Saturday mornings to see the kids wearing them, you will feel proud that you have helped out in some small way!
This concludes our series of articles: Measuring Success. We hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as we have enjoyed doing the topical research.
…Next time,, more Tech Talk.
Measuring Success-Our Communities.
No matter where we live, no matter where we look, there is always something that needs doing in every community. Around every corner, across the street or across the city, there are those that have not had or do not have the same opportunities we currently enjoy or have had in our lifetimes. What is our corporate responsibility to society? Is it just for large enterprise to be involved and aid those who are in need? What benefits us when we step up to volunteer our time or our services? These questions have been asked since the beginning of commerce and trade. The answers challenge our ethics and are steeped in controversy.
Some companies donate heartily to charitable organizations well others have found ways to offer time, services, support and direction to organizations that work to improve the life situations of literally millions of people around the world. Your niche could be providing a work space for literacy classes, or even helping someone cope with unbearable family tragedy in a face to face talk. Other companies have rallied their employees to support specific relief efforts or assist with raising funds for those in need of the items for their children that we often take for granted.
There are as many ways to be involved and provide support as there are needs in our society. Today company upon company are stepping up to meet the challenge of addressing these needs as it is becoming clear that governments can not possibly provide the overwhelming response that is needed. If you have traveled or worked in a developing nation you will have seen this first hand. If you haven’t had the opportunity to travel, you still need not look too far to find a way to do your part-even if you live in an urban area in a country with a high standard of living.
Taking Responsibility
Firstly, the idea of corporate responsibility for assisting society isn’t really new, but it isn’t really old either. Around the time of the Industrial Revolution in Germany and Britain, those less fortunate were left to fend for themselves if not entirely exploited by the private and public sectors alike. If you were poor or had no education, there was little hope for a prosperous and productive life. Very few agencies existed to help those disadvantaged by life. Even fewer in the business sector cared to assist. It’s just the way life was. But by the turn of the 20th century, it was becoming more apparent that there were benefits to be gained in playing a more active role. By the time the stock market crashed in the 1930’s and the Dust Bowl ravaged agricultural land across the Mid West United States, the picture was all too clear. Governments were ill prepared to deal with the masses of people that could be thrown into poverty by a fluke of nature or a loss of confidence in the financial sector. Economists of the time pointed to the need for a more ethical and humanitarian practice of business.
People are the common denominator of progress. So... no improvement is possible with unimproved people, and advance is certain when people are liberated and educated. It would be wrong to dismiss the importance of roads, railroads, power plants, mills, and the other familiar furniture of economic development.... But we are coming to realize... that there is a certain sterility in economic monuments that stand alone in a sea of illiteracy. Conquest of illiteracy comes first. --John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - 2006)
If Corporate America ignored societal issues of poverty, education and mass unemployment, they in turn ignored their very own markets. So there was the self-serving answer. Get involved as it helps to have a market that can afford to buy your product. Today, thankfully, things are a little more community oriented and come from the heart. But the under-lying premise is that to help our fellow man helps us all. Of this there can be no doubt. So there is a real responsibility to look out for our brothers and sisters all over the world. So how do you take that first step?
Getting Started
There are so many worth-while charities and non government organizations that play a vital role in making our world a little better. All of them would be grateful for a small donation annually to help support whatever their cause, or even better a donation of your time to do some volunteer work.
The best place to start is with your staff. Ask them about their communities and organizations they know about that do good charitable work. Sit down and work out which cause everybody can get behind and support. Sometimes you will be surprised to find that your staff are already getting involved at some level and will have lots of information and contacts within various organizations. The next step is to get buy-in from as many of your staff as you can. Put a team together. You need to let them know the need to help is real and that there are many ways then can be involved if they so choose. First of all, it can be fun and helps to build your company’s team spirit as well as providing a welcome diversion that can help your key staff reduce their job related stress. After your team has worked out what you can afford in time, funds and services, it is time to meet with key members of the organization you have chosen.
How you Benefit the Most
You should not be shocked to find out they will welcome not only your assistance, but your ideas, your commitment, and your willingness to be involved. What follows will be perhaps one of the most rewarding experiences you will ever have as business owner/manager: Being involved in your community and helping to make a difference in our world, in your children’s world.
Usually, once you have past this initial point, there will be no looking back. Not only will you enjoy the friendship of many like-minded people, but you will be able to take an active role that will keep bringing you new challenges and rewarding results for years to come, not to mention the pride you can feel as a responsible corporate citizen. Also, you never know, but something good might happen and you could just meet that new business client or industry partner you have been looking for!
At NetTrac, we have endeavored to be an active participant in supporting our communities through the usual channels such as making donations to United Way, or supporting local minor sports teams. It was not until we opened our South East Asia office over a year ago that we really found a charitable cause we could really put our hearts into. ( More about this in some future article.) The point to be made is that you should never let helping out be on the back burner or shelved. Sometime, someplace, you will find a way to help that you can enjoy and really care about -- but in the meantime, if all you can do is buy some jerseys for your son’s hockey team.. it’s still worth it. Even if you have to get up at 5am on Saturday mornings to see the kids wearing them, you will feel proud that you have helped out in some small way!
This concludes our series of articles: Measuring Success. We hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as we have enjoyed doing the topical research.
…Next time,, more Tech Talk.
September 09, 2009
NetTrac Provides Innovative Solution For Engineered Lifting Systems and Equipment Inc.
Read more...
September 03, 2009
NetTrac Announces Continuous Data Protection: Affordable Plans for Unbeatable Protection
Read more...
August 20, 2009
Measuring Success-Our Communities.
Read more...
July 20, 2009
Measuring Success-Working Green.
Read more...
