We as humans have a tendency to lift ourselves in times of disaster. Many stories of bravado and selflessness surface during these tough times. People do their own bits, big or small, to help people in distress. And, so do organisations.
Apple, known for its iPhone, iPod and iPad products, is an unlikely candidate for anything close to disaster relief. But, the company and its employees have done their bit to help.
Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.com posted on his blog a letter from his friend who works at an Apple store in Japan. In the letter his unnamed friend describes in detail what Apple as a company and the employees did to help people in the tragedy.
The letter says, "7 hours and 118 aftershocks later, the store was still open. Why? Because with the phone and train lines down, taxis stopped, and millions of people stuck in the Tokyo shopping district scared, with no access to television, hundreds of people were swarming into Apple stores to watch the news on USTREAM and contact their families via Twitter, Facebook, and email. The young did it on their mobile devices, while the old clustered around the macs. There were even some Android users there."
Read the full letter here.Apple has also started a page on its app store that is accepting donations to the American Red Cross society.
Google on the other hand have been at the forefront on the Internet to help in whatever way possible.
The Google Crisis Response page is a comprehensive resource with links and information to help people in the Japan. It has links on donations, resources, useful maps and latest news. Besides running its own people finder on the same page, it has links to various message boards being run by other organisations. Through Google maps there are links on the page to find shelter locations and emergency food distribution centres. It goes on to give information about blackouts in areas and about the status of various transportation services in the country. Must say, a great job done by Google on this. This is way beyond any CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activity.
Microsoft, on the other hand, has responded with an initial commitment of $2 million, which includes $250,000 in cash. They earlier got some flak from the Twitter community for using the medium for marketing themselves in the guise of the earthquake. On March 12 the Bing account of Microsoft tweeted, "How you can #SupportJapan - http://binged.it/fEh7iT. For every retweet, @bing will give $1 to Japan quake victims, up to $100K." They later apologized and said, "We apologize the tweet was negatively perceived. Intent was to provide an easy way for people to help Japan. We have donated $100K."
Panasonic, in a recent release has said that to help cut power consumption amid concerns of power shortage, they have been rigorously enforcing electricity-saving measures. All Panasonic offices and factories in Japan turn off lighting and other electric equipment that are not in absolute need as well as turn off outdoor signage of their buildings across the nation since March 12.
I am reminded of the role that Reliance Industries and other corporates played during the Gujrat earthquake in 2001. Besides monetary assistance, they contributed with tools, machinery, food, water, medicines and tents.
Though, the reports of corporates helping out in Japan are scarce at this moment -we will definitely hear of more such inspiring stories. Do write to us if you know of any more and we will share them with the world.