Can Corporations Really Do Good?
Yesterday I noticed that Google had linked to a page with information about registering to vote. While the linked-to page was a little confusing I was still happy to see this. At Google’s core it really wants to be a socially responsible company. With its rapid and enormous growth this has been difficult and they’ve heard about it too. Google is now suffering from the Starbucks syndrome in that it has gone mainstream and those that consider themselves Geeks and first-adopters will reject it based its popularity, but say that it’s for some other reason.
Is it possible for a giant corporation to really be “good” and to produce more good in the world than they take away? I think so, but most of us are damaged from all the bad that we’ve seen from the giants too. Yet I’m by no means a hater of corporations. In fact, I believe that corporations are a large part of what has made America great. I was always a believer in the “Captains of Industry” idea more than the “Robber Baron” concept, but I do think that corporations of today should do more. In that same breath I can say that many are trying. Just because someone is a CEO doesn’t mean that he’s not also an environmentalist – or at the least someone that wants to leave a better world for his kids.
Well there’s your Friday ramble. I’ll talk to you again next week after Congress takes credit for saving the world and blames all that went wrong on someone else.