Silicon Valley Leaders, New Social Issues, come together on Indiana lawThe
leaders of the technology industry have found their collective voice on
a social issue in the last week, rally with great intensity on a new
Indiana law that allow companies they predict will be to discriminate
against gay couples. The heads of Apple, Salesforce.com, Yelp and Square are all publicly
criticized the law as some executives from other industries have.But in many other issues of the day that ignite strong passions - for
gun control from race relations to income inequality - tech leaders are
much quieter.The contrast is a reminder of the balancing act is done in the executive cabins of Silicon Valley. On
the one hand there is the fear that has almost every CEO could offend
about taking strong stands on issues, customers, partners and employees.
On the other hand, there is the exuberance of an industry just
learning their role as cultural and business leaders, a hug often
animated by grandiose corporate mission statements about the wiring of
the world and empowering people with information.So
many tech companies have a mission, they say, is greater than the
profits Hugs "said Glenn Kelman, chief executive of Redfin, an online
real estate company." As soon as you wrap yourself in a moral flag, you
have it to carry to the top of another hill. "Until
recently, tech leaders have waded into political disputes, if there is a
direct connection to their company, staking out positions on
immigration reform, Copyright and Internet service regulation. Many of them write checks to finance candidates and ballot initiatives
- to Democrats and progressive causes, more often than not.
With gay rights and same-sex marriage but each remaining concerns has disappeared.Opponents of the law last week by Governor Mike Pence, a Republican, signed afraid it will be used by entrepreneurs to services for people who refuse to same-sex weddings. Governor Pence said on Tuesday that he wanted the law changed until the end of the week. A similar law was passed on Tuesday by the Arkansas legislature.In an opinion article online on Sunday by the Washington Post, Timothy D. Cook, Apple's CEO has been released, said: "With the life and dignity of so many people is at stake, it is time for all of us to courageously be. "Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, which has a significant presence in Indiana, canceled all corporate events in the country and other exhorted to follow suit on social media. But in an interview on Tuesday, he said he had deliberately tried to make a business case - no moral case - for objecting to the Indiana law."I am a C.E.O.," he said. "I'm not a pastor or politician or a civil rights leader."Mr. Benioff said that he was of his friends by e-mail in tech, to join him in opposing the law. "We will wade into the territory of any of us is comfortable in the social issues," he said. "But it was clear that, as we all go in together, it would be fine"Reading the main story reading the main story NextContinue reading the main storyThe last generation of tech leaders, including Steven P. Jobs of Apple, Andrew S. Grove of Intel and Microsoft's Bill Gates were more on building their businesses than on social issues, at least until they ran them, David B said. Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School."The great success of companies like Apple and Salesforce, in combination with more socially conscious CEOs, has made it easier to speak it," said Professor Yoffie.Technology companies are sources of support for gay rights. The industry is centered in the San Francisco Bay Area, long a bastion of gay culture, and most major tech companies have large and active gay-employee groups. Mr. Cook, who he was gay announced last year, leads the most valuable company in the world."When it comes to gay rights, it is an easier topic to get into," said Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management. "Generations, the population there with the CEO"While there are still vocal opposition to same-sex marriage from religious conservatives, the issue quickly disunion lost it once had. Most polls show 50 to 60 percent of the American public supports same-sex marriage, and hundreds of companies have asked the Supreme Court to strike down state laws prohibiting such unions.Tech executives who are not on board with same-sex marriage have found themselves out of a job. Last year, Brendan Eich, CEO of Mozilla Web browser manufacturers, was forced into resigning after it was revealed that he had donated $ 1,000 in 2008 to support a measure banning same-sex marriage California.Technology leader in the group not shown the same kind of full-throated support for other social issues. In a joint statement, Mitch Kapor and freada Kapor Klein, the Kapor Center for Social Impact in Oakland, California. Running, the Silicon Valley was a commendable job of putting us against the open discrimination, including done in Indiana. But the company, they said, are less effective in increasing the "dismal representation" in their work forces of other groups, including women and minorities have been."We want the same level of steadfast commitment and action in relation to the hidden biases that permeate the valley," she said.Big technology companies take measures to increase study by encouraging more girls and minorities in computer programming at school the diversity of their jobs. You have only recently begun it, come clean on how far they have to go through the publication Employment Statistics under the pressure of civil rights activist Rev. Jesse L. Jackson to go.There is still a strong counter school of thought among tech leaders that Silicon Valley is a pure meritocracy, in which the key is to reward talent and hard work. The fault lines on this subject were exposed by a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by Ellen Pao, who sued her former venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. A jury ruled against Ms. Pao demands on Friday.Technology leaders have been reluctant to inject into further discussions on race relations, such as the national debate on police treatment of black men became a national issue in the last year. An exception was Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and the chief executive of Square, an Internet payments company. He turned on twitter extensively in August last of demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri, after police shooting of an unarmed black man, Michael Brown.Starbucks is a cautionary tale of how can stimulate well-intentioned efforts to dialogue on race go wrong. Endeavor in March, Managing Director of the retailer, Howard D. Schultz, shelved to encourage baristas to write the term "racial Together" on coffee mugs, after the plan to start conversations with customers was widely ridiculed.Nevertheless, Mr. Benioff predicted that the tech unit at Indiana law was only the beginning of a new openness."I think it will open the door to us," he said. "It shows us we are not afraid to be against this policy in the competition."
With gay rights and same-sex marriage but each remaining concerns has disappeared.Opponents of the law last week by Governor Mike Pence, a Republican, signed afraid it will be used by entrepreneurs to services for people who refuse to same-sex weddings. Governor Pence said on Tuesday that he wanted the law changed until the end of the week. A similar law was passed on Tuesday by the Arkansas legislature.In an opinion article online on Sunday by the Washington Post, Timothy D. Cook, Apple's CEO has been released, said: "With the life and dignity of so many people is at stake, it is time for all of us to courageously be. "Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, which has a significant presence in Indiana, canceled all corporate events in the country and other exhorted to follow suit on social media. But in an interview on Tuesday, he said he had deliberately tried to make a business case - no moral case - for objecting to the Indiana law."I am a C.E.O.," he said. "I'm not a pastor or politician or a civil rights leader."Mr. Benioff said that he was of his friends by e-mail in tech, to join him in opposing the law. "We will wade into the territory of any of us is comfortable in the social issues," he said. "But it was clear that, as we all go in together, it would be fine"Reading the main story reading the main story NextContinue reading the main storyThe last generation of tech leaders, including Steven P. Jobs of Apple, Andrew S. Grove of Intel and Microsoft's Bill Gates were more on building their businesses than on social issues, at least until they ran them, David B said. Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School."The great success of companies like Apple and Salesforce, in combination with more socially conscious CEOs, has made it easier to speak it," said Professor Yoffie.Technology companies are sources of support for gay rights. The industry is centered in the San Francisco Bay Area, long a bastion of gay culture, and most major tech companies have large and active gay-employee groups. Mr. Cook, who he was gay announced last year, leads the most valuable company in the world."When it comes to gay rights, it is an easier topic to get into," said Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management. "Generations, the population there with the CEO"While there are still vocal opposition to same-sex marriage from religious conservatives, the issue quickly disunion lost it once had. Most polls show 50 to 60 percent of the American public supports same-sex marriage, and hundreds of companies have asked the Supreme Court to strike down state laws prohibiting such unions.Tech executives who are not on board with same-sex marriage have found themselves out of a job. Last year, Brendan Eich, CEO of Mozilla Web browser manufacturers, was forced into resigning after it was revealed that he had donated $ 1,000 in 2008 to support a measure banning same-sex marriage California.Technology leader in the group not shown the same kind of full-throated support for other social issues. In a joint statement, Mitch Kapor and freada Kapor Klein, the Kapor Center for Social Impact in Oakland, California. Running, the Silicon Valley was a commendable job of putting us against the open discrimination, including done in Indiana. But the company, they said, are less effective in increasing the "dismal representation" in their work forces of other groups, including women and minorities have been."We want the same level of steadfast commitment and action in relation to the hidden biases that permeate the valley," she said.Big technology companies take measures to increase study by encouraging more girls and minorities in computer programming at school the diversity of their jobs. You have only recently begun it, come clean on how far they have to go through the publication Employment Statistics under the pressure of civil rights activist Rev. Jesse L. Jackson to go.There is still a strong counter school of thought among tech leaders that Silicon Valley is a pure meritocracy, in which the key is to reward talent and hard work. The fault lines on this subject were exposed by a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by Ellen Pao, who sued her former venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. A jury ruled against Ms. Pao demands on Friday.Technology leaders have been reluctant to inject into further discussions on race relations, such as the national debate on police treatment of black men became a national issue in the last year. An exception was Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and the chief executive of Square, an Internet payments company. He turned on twitter extensively in August last of demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri, after police shooting of an unarmed black man, Michael Brown.Starbucks is a cautionary tale of how can stimulate well-intentioned efforts to dialogue on race go wrong. Endeavor in March, Managing Director of the retailer, Howard D. Schultz, shelved to encourage baristas to write the term "racial Together" on coffee mugs, after the plan to start conversations with customers was widely ridiculed.Nevertheless, Mr. Benioff predicted that the tech unit at Indiana law was only the beginning of a new openness."I think it will open the door to us," he said. "It shows us we are not afraid to be against this policy in the competition."