3,000 IBM Employees pledge 2.4 Million hours of volunteer work to celebrate IBM's centennial.

[Renew Deal]

IBM and Six Strategic Reasons to Celebrate by Serving

The IBM Centennial celebration on June 15 is a birthday party for the world. It is not cake, candles, and fancy dress but more of a roll-up-you-sleeves-to-work day. Nearly 300,000 IBMers and family members have pledged at least 8 hours of service in 120 countries through over 3,500 projects that draw on IBM tools and capabilities. And new tools have been developed for ongoing use by social causes. This is not lip service; it's authentic service.

Perhaps IBM's massive mobilization of company talent can inspire many more companies, small and large, to see the strategic value of leading with values and taking every opportunity to show how they make a difference. Companies rally for disasters; Procter & Gamble was praised in the New York Times for its Tide Loads of Hope and Duracell Power Relief vans contributing to flood relief efforts in the South.

So why not do good when times are good? Some already tie their celebrations to service; Novartis celebrates each anniversary of the merger that created the current company with a global day of community service, which I had suggested while a consultant on merger integration in 1996. But IBM's activities (which I know from my continuing advisory relationship) show how innovative and strategic the outcomes can be when a company commits to service on a large scale, from the top and throughout the organization.

IBMers have signed up for activities reflecting their skills and personal interests to promote ongoing activities and sustainable solutions, some of them custom-built to be launched on the Centennial
<snip>

http://blogs.hbr.org/kanter/2011/06/ibm-and-six-strategic-reasons.html

[supernova]

1. Surprised they have enough

IBMers around to donate that many hours, what with all the layoffs and outsourcing the past decade.

[Dawson Leery]

2. I would not pledge a second of volunteer time in the name of a corporation.