Bell Curves and the Other Side of the Argument

(770 words, three-minute read)

Corporations are taking a beating in this election year. Depending on which candidate you listen to, they don’t hire enough, they don’t pay enough taxes, they buy back too much stock, they outsource too much, and they have too much influence in Washington. Do they do anything worth applauding? Let’s try to find something nice to say.

First, let’s keep in mind that a corporation is nothing more than the people that own it, lead it, and work for it. Most people are good people and mean well; at least, that is what a statistical bell curve would suggest. That does not mean that the bell curve doesn’t have room for some bad behavior—that is what the extremes of the curve are for. One need look no further than Wells Fargo’s creation of unsolicited accounts, or Purdue Pharma’s complicity in the opiate crisis, or Facebook’s carelessness with your privacy, for evidence of that. Could it follow that while most people are good and mean well, they willingly participate nonetheless in bad corporate behavior? Sometimes for certain, but surely not most of the time, as some candidates would suggest. 

So, in defense of all the good and well-meaning people who go to work every day and try their best to add value and do the right thing, here are a few things to cheer! 

Google has had a commitment to sustainability for several years: they became carbon neutral 12 years ago and in 2018 achieved their goal of matching 100% of their global electrical consumption with renewable sources. They also have a goal of “Zero Waste to Landfill” and have been successful in diverting 87% of the waste generated by their data centers away from landfills. In 2017, the company announced a five-year $1 billion commitment to philanthropies working in three primary areas: education, economic opportunity, and inclusion. Grants to date have included the Equal Justice Initiative, Goodwill Industries International, and Pratham Books: StoryWeaver platform. Finally, the company facilitates green commuting and provides employee gift matching and paid time off for volunteering.

In 2017, Amazon, in partnership with Global Optimism, launched The Climate Pledge, asking companies to commit to meeting the Paris Agreements 10 years early. For Amazon, this means reaching carbon neutrality by 2040 and using 100% renewable energy by 2030. The company’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, announced in 2018 a personal $2 billion philanthropic commitment to funding nonprofits that help homeless families and creating nonprofit preschools in underserved communities. (Mackenzie Bezos signed the Giving Pledge, pledging to give one-half of her $34 billion fortune to charities during her lifetime.)

Through their AmazonSmile program, Amazon contributes a percentage of eligible product purchases to a charity of the purchasers’ choice, providing a way for customers to support their favorite charity each time they shop with Amazon, at no extra cost. In 2018, the program generated more than $100 million of grants to charitable organizations.

Sometimes criticized for its demanding work environment, Amazon announced in 2018 that it would pay a $15 per hour minimum wage to all full-time and season workers. (The federal minimum wage remains at $7.25 per hour.)

Wells Fargo donates up to 1.5% of its revenue to charitable causes each year. In 2017 they contributed $286.5 million to more than 14,500 nonprofits, while employees contributed over 2 million hours of charitable work valued $48 million. They also provide employees two paid days off per year to volunteer and give back to the charity of their choice.

 JPMorgan’s AdvancingCities is a $500 million, five-year initiative to invest in the long-term vitality of the world’s cities and the communities within them that have not benefited from economic growth. They believe that extending the benefits of a growing economy to more people requires meaningful collaboration between the private, public, and nonprofit sectors.

The generosity of Microsoft founder Bill Gates is legendary, but the Microsoft culture he created is also a philanthropic one. The company created its giving program in 1983. As their philanthropy webpage explains, Microsoft’s giving program has given not only time (associates have contributed five million hours volunteering in the last 13 years) but also cash. The program reached a total of $1.6 billion given in 2017 and is expected to reach $2 billion by 2020.  Microsoft Philanthropies is an initiative that works with nonprofits, governments, and businesses to create “a future where every person has the skills, knowledge, and opportunity to achieve more.” 

This is by no means an exhaustive list, just the one that fits into a weekly Commentary. Perhaps it is enough, however, to provide a small reminder that millions of good people work for corporations and do not check their values at the door when they go to work each day. We wish the candidates would keep in mind that when they paint corporations with a broad brush of “greed and corruption,” they are also tarnishing the millions of good people who are part of them.