Case Study: Partnership for Lebanon and Cisco Systems
CASE STUDY #2: PARTNERSHIP FOR LEBANON AND CISCO SYSTEMS
Southern New Hampshire University
Introduction
In 2006, President George W. Bush solicited the help of US Businesses to help with the rebuilding of Lebanon after the war and the Partnership for Lebanon was formed to consolidate efforts (Jamali, 2011). The multi-national partnership was an effort to aid the people of Lebanon in rebuilding their quality of life by, “expanding the reach of education and workforce training, creating jobs, building out the country’s technology infrastructure, and connecting communities and government” (Cisco, 2007). Salam Yamout from Cisco was appointed as the project manager for the PFL, placing Cisco at the head of the initiative table for ensuring success of the project (Jamali, 2011).
Cisco was born from a marriage (literally and figuratively) of communication and innovation at Stanford University. While working in separate buildings, husband and wife, Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner wanted to communicate via email, but found the computer systems they were using could not communicate with one another (disparate local area protocols), so they invented a router to translate multiple computer codes and the “multi-protocol router” was born (Jamali, 2011). The Stanford team expanded beyond the university and incorporated as a networking firm in San Francisco in 1984, and one could conclude even the Cisco name came from its’ San Francisco birthplace (Jamali, 2011).
The case study delves into the PFL program by reviewing the management, impact, challenges, and successes of Cisco and its partners from the formation of the PFL in 2006. The program, as mentioned above had lofty goals of rebuilding Lebanon and through multi-national efforts it was able to accomplish a great deal in a relatively limited amount of time. Some of the published successes of the PFL program within Lebanon include: 90% of the interns were employed later, US$1.57 million
Southern New Hampshire University
Introduction
In 2006, President George W. Bush solicited the help of US Businesses to help with the rebuilding of Lebanon after the war and the Partnership for Lebanon was formed to consolidate efforts (Jamali, 2011). The multi-national partnership was an effort to aid the people of Lebanon in rebuilding their quality of life by, “expanding the reach of education and workforce training, creating jobs, building out the country’s technology infrastructure, and connecting communities and government” (Cisco, 2007). Salam Yamout from Cisco was appointed as the project manager for the PFL, placing Cisco at the head of the initiative table for ensuring success of the project (Jamali, 2011).
Cisco was born from a marriage (literally and figuratively) of communication and innovation at Stanford University. While working in separate buildings, husband and wife, Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner wanted to communicate via email, but found the computer systems they were using could not communicate with one another (disparate local area protocols), so they invented a router to translate multiple computer codes and the “multi-protocol router” was born (Jamali, 2011). The Stanford team expanded beyond the university and incorporated as a networking firm in San Francisco in 1984, and one could conclude even the Cisco name came from its’ San Francisco birthplace (Jamali, 2011).
The case study delves into the PFL program by reviewing the management, impact, challenges, and successes of Cisco and its partners from the formation of the PFL in 2006. The program, as mentioned above had lofty goals of rebuilding Lebanon and through multi-national efforts it was able to accomplish a great deal in a relatively limited amount of time. Some of the published successes of the PFL program within Lebanon include: 90% of the interns were employed later, US$1.57 million
References: Avina, J. (2013). The Evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Arab Spring. The Middle East Journal, 67(1), 77-92. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/ 1289014832?accountid=3783 Cisco Saudi GM Affirms Cisco 's Commitment to Lebanon. (2007). Al Bawaba. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/ 194823806?accountid=3783 Jamali, D. (2011). Partnership for Lebanon and Cisco Systems: Promoting Development in a Post-War Context. In R. Ramadan (Ed.), Organizational Leadership 690: Responsible Corporate Leadership. Course Package: Harvard Business Review Articles: Coursepack. Manchester, NH: Southern New Hampshire University Bookstore. (Reprinted from Richard Ivey School of Business.) Partnership for Lebanon. (n.d.). Corporate Social Responsibility. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://csr.cisco.com/casestudy/partnership-for-lebanon