• I agree that companies should be socially responsible in their community and when a company becomes global as Microsoft has it should be globally responsible.  I'm going to take this rant on one branch of the global responsibility tree that affects a lot of us.

    It's no secret that the Bill and Melinda gates Foundation has done and does more across the globe than their share.  Microsoft, the company, enjoys a lot of good-will from their philanthropic efforts.  I applaud them and feel that they have a global obligation.  Oprah Winfrey falls into the same category with me.  She's become a Global presence and she's benefiting from a lot of benefit in the press from her new schools.  I don't begrudge her a bit and respect and applaud her efforts too.

    However it's also a cost benefit model of philanthropy.  Where will the most benefit be for the least amount of investment?  That will not be inside the United States.  At least not until 2027 http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=198001218 .

    Countries who make a commodity out of intellectual property will aid in flattening the earth's markets.  (China, Korea, India, Hungary) Unfortunately, and I'm paraphrasing the words of Tom Friedman in his book "The World Is Flat" America's dirty little secret is that we've allowed the last several decades of our public education to allow children to dictate what they should learn and how much "homework is fair".  In America if you're one in a Million you stand out.  In China, if you're "One in a million" there are 1,300 people just like you."

    So where does this put social responsibility for a corporation?  Remember there's an economy in hiring the kid next door too.  Not only do you educate locally but the moving expenses are less.  I believe that social responsibility includes education.  If we teach little Johnny and Mary the skills to compete in a global market, perhaps we won't be bailing them out when their company outsource to a lower cost labor market.

    But the social responsibility goes both ways.  If you're going to get the good-will for what you're doing abroad you should also be responsible locally for the consequences of your actions.  This past week Bill Gates sat before a congressional committee asking to do away with H-1B restrictions.  While this would avail him of lower cost labor it also would allow easier displacement of some of the last 20 years of computer science majors.

    http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/03/08/gates_end_limits_on_h_1b_visas/

    I believe that large corporations have taken on the convenient part of the adage "Think locally, act globally".  Social responsibility entails more than just throwing money at a problem.

    Bob Lee