Cisco Releases 2009 Corporate Social Responsibility Report

SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/07/09 -- Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO)

Report overview

• Today Cisco released its fifth annual Cisco® Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report.
• The 2009 Corporate Social Responsibility Report shows how Cisco's CSR activities align with its business strategy and support its long-term sustainability.
• The report covers Cisco's corporate governance, environmental governance and practices, employee engagements, social investments, and charitable giving programs. This year it also includes a new section on Cisco's customer value chain.
• Cisco's CSR commitments are focused primarily on strategic programs and partnerships that support Cisco's corporate values, promote positive social change to underserved communities, and take advantage of the core competencies of its employees and business.
• This year's report places particular emphasis on enhancing its readability and user experience in innovative ways. The report:
  
  • Provides an interactive overview of its global CSR activities to give a regional context for its CSR performance.
  • Incorporates videos that provide first-person perspectives on the local benefits to communities.
  • Explores ways in which social media (Web 2.0) might help improve the dialogue between Cisco and its stakeholders.

Highlights / Key Facts:

• Networked Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies are transforming the work environment, business operations, and delivery of corporate social responsibilities at Cisco. Technological advancements offer tremendous opportunities to make a positive change in how companies approach business, economic and societal challenges.
• Cisco recognizes that the application of technology alone will not result in a drop in emissions, and that technology has to be coupled with changes in culture, management practices and business processes in order to achieve its full potential. Cisco aims to reduce its business air travel greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide by 10 percent absolute (against a FY2006 baseline) and to reduce all Scope 1, 2, and business air travel Scope 3 GHG emissions worldwide by 25 percent absolute by CY2012 (CY2007 baseline).
• Cisco Smart Grid solutions are one example of how energy can be managed with a high degree of security on electrical grids, from generation to consumption, to make homes and buildings more productive and economical.
• Cisco demonstrates commitment to giving by contributing $128.6 million corporate-wide as well as partnering with governments, non-governmental organizations, and other companies to maximize monetary investments 10-fold.
• Cisco closely works with partners to instill quality and reliability in the value chain. By reducing carbon emissions, waste production, and natural resource demand in FY09, Cisco's Global Value Chain Management group realized more than $12 million in annual cost savings by applying sustainable practices and manufacturing efficiencies.
• Education is a catalyst that produces the entrepreneurs, technologists, thinkers, knowledge workers, teachers, and leaders who collectively make it possible for economies and individuals to prosper. The Cisco Networking Academy® is the company's largest corporate social responsibility (CSR) education program, offering 14 courses to more than 800,000 students in FY09. To date, Cisco has invested more than $350 million in the program.
• Cisco uses several tools to gather employee feedback including the annual Pulse Survey, a confidential poll administered online to employees globally. In 2009, 90 percent of employees agreed that Cisco is a great place to work, up from 86 percent in 2008.
• In November 2008, Cisco launched the Cisco LifeConnections Center, an integrated childcare, medical center, and fitness facility at its headquarters in San Jose, California.

Tags / Keywords:
Cisco, environment, manufacturing efficiency, supply chain management, public-private partnership, governance, CSR, corporate social responsibility, citizenship, sustainability, green, education, employees, Networking Academy

Additional Resources:

• Explore the interactive map to see Cisco's regional CSR initiatives worldwide
• Visit Justmeans to engage in further conversation around Cisco's Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2009

View videos from the 2009 CSR report:

• Hear Simon Tedessa's personal story about using money he was given by his father to take swimming lessons and to launch an ICT career:
  http://www.youtube.com/v/V0OuYXnw2pw&hl=en_US&fs=1&
• Watch a video of the New York iSchool initiative which provides leading-edge education techniques to model four-year high schools.
  http://www.youtube.com/v/xUIEUP1pvYI&hl=en_US&fs=1&
• Kathy Mulvany, Cisco's director of sustainable business practices, discusses new elements of Cisco's CSR report and the company's CSR strategy.
  http://www.youtube.com/v/_p0CNTQJZKc&hl=en_US&fs=1&

Quotes:
Tae Yoo, Cisco senior vice president, Corporate Affairs
"As a global corporate citizen, Cisco's support of multiyear collaborative partnerships with government and nongovernmental organizations assists our commitment to addressing real community needs while making a lasting impact on the future. Our 2009 CSR report incorporates an infusion of ideas from these groups as well as from our partners, employees, shareholders and customers. We are delighted to share our approach, progress, and the work still to be done as we continue on our CSR journey."

RSS Feed for Cisco: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/rss.html

About Cisco Systems
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Cisco, the Cisco logo, Cisco Systems and Networking Academy are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.

Embedded Video Available

Youtube Video Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1130123
Youtube Video Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1130124
Youtube Video Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1130310

Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine