Archive for June, 2009
Yahoo!’s Human Rights Turnaround
Just like any other global company, Yahoo! must ensure that its local country sites . . . operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based.
– Yahoo! Spokesperson, September 2005
Human rights trump doing business. . . . Internet companies must learn when not to hide behind the notion that we are corporations so it is our number one obligation just to do business. It isn’t our number one obligation. Our number one obligation is to be good world citizens.
– Carol Bartz, Yahoo! CEO, Yahoo! Business & Human Rights Summit, May 2009
What a difference media attention, a lawsuit, Congressional hearings, and ousting the CEO makes. Like earlier corporate responsibility poster children under intense pressure from stakeholders (see Nike), Yahoo is transforming itself from a laggard to a leader.