Apple's COVID-19 Response Shines Light On Social Responsibility
Consumers and investors are becoming increasingly ethical when it comes to the choices they make: they seek authenticity and corporate social responsibility, says a story in ComputerWorld.com. Apple’s values-driven approach resonates amid this growing awareness, and it’s reflected in the company’s own fundraising and volunteer efforts.
Enterprises are becoming increasingly aware of the evolution of the ethical consumer. This evolution is driving growing recognition among the investment community, prompting forward-thinking firms to put values at the center of their business.
Microsoft Announces Safe Gaming Partnership
Microsoft Corporation has issued a joint statement of principles with rival video game giants Nintendo Company, Limited and Sony Corporation, according to Investopedia.com. "Our Shared Commitment to Safer Gaming" is essentially a pledge to protect both younger and more vulnerable players from inappropriate content and abusive or exploitative behavior by other players.1
Absent any specific incidents that may have triggered such a move, a likely explanation for this surprise announcement is that these companies are making a pre-emptive strike against the sort of intensive political scrutiny that is besetting other big tech companies, particularly Facebook, Inc.
US Airlines See Potential In Reshaped Networks
Flightglobal.com says United Airlines turned heads in the late summer when it began planning numerous direct routes between northern US cities and sun destinations in Florida like Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale.
Coming from a legacy carrier that had for years found its fortunes in the more-traditional hub-and-spoke network, the move suggested to the market that the Chicago-based industry behemoth anticipates it will be quite some time until the industry finds its “new normal” following what will soon be a year-long coronavirus crisis.
Lenovo Unveils Hybrid-Cloud Management Tools
Networkworld.com says Lenovo Data Center Group has released new storage and data-management tools designed to boost performance and improve monitoring and analytic capabilities across enterprise systems that span the edge, data center and cloud.
The enhancements include a new all-flash storage array with end-to-end NVMe support, an updated cloud-based management platform, and a new fibre channel switch.
Best Buy Commits $44M to Diverse Hiring, Community Engagement
HRDrive.com reports that Best Buy will commit more than $44 million over a five-year period to achieve a set of diversity, inclusion and representation goals by 2025, the company announced Dec. 9.
Among other goals, Best Buy is seeking a more diverse employee base; the company said it seeks to fill 1 in 3 new, non-hourly corporate positions with candidates who are Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC). Additionally, it plans to fill 1 in 3 new, non-hourly field roles with female candidates. Best Buy also said it seeks to create "parity in retention rates" as well as change its senior leadership ranks to be "more in line with the diversity of CEO direct reports and company Board of Directors," it said.