IBM is making a pretty cool announcement in the morning, around a new initiative for IBMers to get involved in interesting projects in development markets. Called the Corporate Services Corps, the initial group of 100 -- selected from over 5000 IBMers who applied -- will be headed to countries like Ghana, Vietnam, the Philippines, Romania and Tanzania. They will live and work in these environments for a month, helping local businesses grow into global responsibilities.
From the IHT:
IBM's program, which it calls the Corporate Service Corps, stands out on several counts. It uses the volunteer ethos to throw together employees who might otherwise never meet, even as it gives International Business Machines a high profile in countries where the company does not yet have a major presence.Congratulations to my colleagues who are amongst the first selected for this program.
"As a development tool, this is a four-for-one," said Allan Cohen, dean of the Olin Graduate School at Babson College. "It's stretching to work in another culture, to work in a nonprofit where the measurement of accomplishment isn't clear, to take a sabbatical from your everyday routine, and to learn to accomplish things when you can't just bark orders." ...
The company sees the service corps as a way to learn how well employees cope. And it plans to use that knowledge to customize further development for them.
Link: International Herald Tribune: Training meets philanthropy at IBM >
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Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 3/27/2008 7:44:56 AM
@1 Radu, as you may recall, I was in Bucharest two years ago.... didn't drink much beer, but it was a wonderful visit.
I don't think the term "developing markets" is meant to equate to "third world" by any stretch. The press release, here, { Link } says "Timisoara and Sibiu, Romania: identify small and medium enterprises with high growth potential requiring business training to tap into regional and global trade networks".
Ghana, Vietnam, the Philippines, Romania and Tanzania .... you missed Turkey, Ed :)
1. Aren't BRIC the development markets ?
2. Romania being part of third-world countries is a perception which we don't deserve it. Yet, some of this percepetion might be true, as we didn't find true leaders of the country to make things move better then they currently do.
However, Romania is being part of EU, while all others aren't. So, why Romania ? why not, say, Bulgaria ? I recently visited Bulgaria and they're not so different from us, but hey, both are NOT third-world countries, which the article implies, no matter how it's written.
Hey, did you joined this program ? Why don't you come for a month to work with us in Bucharest, we'll have fun and drink a lot of good beer. And you'll probably see more Ferrari cars than New York :)