Difference between revisions of "Cisco Inc."
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Cisco is a major purchaser of products manufactured at the [[Tyco Electronics]] (http://www.tycoelectronics.com) plant in Dongguan Province, China.<ref>Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 10.</ref> Tyco Electronic's Dongguan factory produces wire and cable, data connectors, printed circuit boards, magnetics, resistors, and circuit protection devices.<ref name="hightech33">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 33.</ref> The plant employed about 6,000 workers in spring of 2008, who are recruited through signs on the factory gates, vocational schools, and job agencies, and who are all entitled to written labor contracts.<ref name = "hightech33">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 33.</ref> The "normal" 8-hour workday is broken by two one hour meal breaks, and is typically extended by 2-4 hours <i>daily</i>, and during times of high production, overtime reaches up to 150 hours/month, in serious violation of Chinese Labor Law, which allows a maximum of 36 overtime hours per month.<ref name="hightech33">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 33.</ref> Both regular and overtime wages were found by a report conducted by [[SACOM]] and [[Bread for All]] to be at or above the rate required by Chinese Labor Law.<ref>Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 34.</ref> In attempting to reach production targets, workers' health and safety becomes endangered due to demanding, repetitive work with hazardous chemicals. Deteriorating eyesight, even amongst young workers (who comprise the majority of interviewees quoted in the SACOM report), is a very common complaint due to long-term use of microscopes and other small-scale production processes.<ref name="hightech35">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 35.</ref> According to the report, "Overall, the provision of personal protective equipment and safety training is seriously inadequate. Some production workers are even exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their work area without wearing masks to protect themselves. In the long term, Tyco Electronics workers will likely develop occupational diseases that could have been prevented in the first place."<ref name="hightech35">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 10.</ref> Living facilities at the factory were found to be generally "acceptable" by workers, though overcrowding and noise were expressed as concerns.<ref name="hightech35">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 35.</ref> Food quality was a complaint, being both expensive and of poor quality.<ref name="hightech36">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 36.</ref> SACOM and Bread for All researchers' primary concerns after their investigation into the Tyco facility were the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), hazardous chemical training, and the availability of medical check-ups.<ref name="hightech36">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 36.</ref> | Cisco is a major purchaser of products manufactured at the [[Tyco Electronics]] (http://www.tycoelectronics.com) plant in Dongguan Province, China.<ref>Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 10.</ref> Tyco Electronic's Dongguan factory produces wire and cable, data connectors, printed circuit boards, magnetics, resistors, and circuit protection devices.<ref name="hightech33">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 33.</ref> The plant employed about 6,000 workers in spring of 2008, who are recruited through signs on the factory gates, vocational schools, and job agencies, and who are all entitled to written labor contracts.<ref name = "hightech33">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 33.</ref> The "normal" 8-hour workday is broken by two one hour meal breaks, and is typically extended by 2-4 hours <i>daily</i>, and during times of high production, overtime reaches up to 150 hours/month, in serious violation of Chinese Labor Law, which allows a maximum of 36 overtime hours per month.<ref name="hightech33">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 33.</ref> Both regular and overtime wages were found by a report conducted by [[SACOM]] and [[Bread for All]] to be at or above the rate required by Chinese Labor Law.<ref>Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 34.</ref> In attempting to reach production targets, workers' health and safety becomes endangered due to demanding, repetitive work with hazardous chemicals. Deteriorating eyesight, even amongst young workers (who comprise the majority of interviewees quoted in the SACOM report), is a very common complaint due to long-term use of microscopes and other small-scale production processes.<ref name="hightech35">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 35.</ref> According to the report, "Overall, the provision of personal protective equipment and safety training is seriously inadequate. Some production workers are even exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their work area without wearing masks to protect themselves. In the long term, Tyco Electronics workers will likely develop occupational diseases that could have been prevented in the first place."<ref name="hightech35">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 10.</ref> Living facilities at the factory were found to be generally "acceptable" by workers, though overcrowding and noise were expressed as concerns.<ref name="hightech35">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 35.</ref> Food quality was a complaint, being both expensive and of poor quality.<ref name="hightech36">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 36.</ref> SACOM and Bread for All researchers' primary concerns after their investigation into the Tyco facility were the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), hazardous chemical training, and the availability of medical check-ups.<ref name="hightech36">Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 36.</ref> | ||
Revision as of 20:33, 25 July 2008
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This article is part of the Center for Media & Democracy's spotlight on global corporations. |
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| Type | publicly-traded |
|---|---|
| Founded | December 1984 |
| Founder(s) | Leonard Bosack and Sandy K. Lerner |
| Headquarters | Silicon Valley, California (USA) |
| Area served | worldwide |
| Key people | Leonard Bosack and Sandy K. Lerner (founders) |
| Industry | networking & communication devices |
| Products | routers, software, amplifiers, power supplies, services, |
| Services | networking, remote operations, technical assistance, developer services, digital media players, |
| Operating income | $2.14 billion USD (quarter ending Apr 08)[1] |
| Employees | 61,535 (full-time) |
| Website | http://www.cisco.com/ |
Cisco Systems, Inc. is a computer technology corporation production networking and communication devices and services worldwide.
Contents
Company History
Cisco was founded in 1984 by a couple, Leonard Bosack and Sandy K. Lerner, in Silicon Valley, California.[2] The two Stanford University employees used their own credit cards for funding as they produced multiprotocol routers in their living room.[2] The multiprotocol router was important because it "enabled computers of varied make, with different protocols, to communicate and to access the early Internet."[2] The first router was designed by Andy Bechtolsheim (who later founded Sun Microsystems and much of its programming was written by William Yeager, a research engineer at Stanford.[2] Bosack and Lerner developed a router that closely resembled the one with Yeager's software, for which they had had access to in its early stages of planning. By 1986 Stanford and Cisco were fighting over rights to the router's software as well as the use of Stanford resources for Cisco's projects by Bosack.[2] An informal settlement was reached between the two organizations in 1987 when Stanford licensed the router software and two computer boards to Cisco, in exchange for the right to use some of the software which included significant improvements made by Cisco after its break from the Stanford research team.[2]
Historical Financial Information
Business Strategy
Political and Public Influence
Political Contributions
In the 2008 election cycle, as of July 2008, the Cisco Systems Political Action Committee spent $452,096. 58% of contributions went to Democrats, 42% to Republicans.[4] A detailed list of Cisco's PAC contribution recipients can be found at Opensecrets.org
| Candidate | Cisco Contribution (2008 cycle) |
|---|---|
| Congressman Lamar Smith (R) | $7,500 |
| Senator Susan Collins (R) | $16,700 |
| Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D) | $22,200 |
| Congressman Ron Paul (R) | $20,089 |
| Senator Barbara Boxer (D) | $25,350 |
| Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) | $22,500 |
| Congressman Zoe Lofgren (D) | $11,000 |
| Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R) | $6,000 |
| Senator Mark Pryor (D) | $16,400 |
| Senator Patrick Leahy (D) | $11,250 |
Lobbying
As of July 2008, Cisco Systems spent $310,000 on lobbying expenditures.[5] It spent a total of $1,140, in 2007, and $1,220,000 in 2006.[6][7]
Corporate Accountability
Labor
Cisco is a major purchaser of products manufactured at the Tyco Electronics (http://www.tycoelectronics.com) plant in Dongguan Province, China.[8] Tyco Electronic's Dongguan factory produces wire and cable, data connectors, printed circuit boards, magnetics, resistors, and circuit protection devices.[9] The plant employed about 6,000 workers in spring of 2008, who are recruited through signs on the factory gates, vocational schools, and job agencies, and who are all entitled to written labor contracts.[9] The "normal" 8-hour workday is broken by two one hour meal breaks, and is typically extended by 2-4 hours daily, and during times of high production, overtime reaches up to 150 hours/month, in serious violation of Chinese Labor Law, which allows a maximum of 36 overtime hours per month.[9] Both regular and overtime wages were found by a report conducted by SACOM and Bread for All to be at or above the rate required by Chinese Labor Law.[10] In attempting to reach production targets, workers' health and safety becomes endangered due to demanding, repetitive work with hazardous chemicals. Deteriorating eyesight, even amongst young workers (who comprise the majority of interviewees quoted in the SACOM report), is a very common complaint due to long-term use of microscopes and other small-scale production processes.[11] According to the report, "Overall, the provision of personal protective equipment and safety training is seriously inadequate. Some production workers are even exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their work area without wearing masks to protect themselves. In the long term, Tyco Electronics workers will likely develop occupational diseases that could have been prevented in the first place."[11] Living facilities at the factory were found to be generally "acceptable" by workers, though overcrowding and noise were expressed as concerns.[11] Food quality was a complaint, being both expensive and of poor quality.[12] SACOM and Bread for All researchers' primary concerns after their investigation into the Tyco facility were the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), hazardous chemical training, and the availability of medical check-ups.[12]
Human Rights
Cisco is one of several technology companies complicit in the Chinese government's censorship of the internet, having produced a "firewall box" allowing the government to block certain websites in the late 1990s.[13][14][15]
Environment
Consumer Protection and Product Safety
Anti-Trust and Tax Practices
Social Responsibility Initiatives
Business Scope
Lines of Business and Major Products Paragraph Units/Subsidiaries
| Customers | Suppliers | Creditors | Competitors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer 1 | Tyco Electronics | Creditor 1 | Competitor 1 |
| Customer 2 | Supplier 2 | Creditor 2 | Competitor 2 |
| Customer 3 | Supplier 3 | Creditor 3 | Competitor 3 |
| Customer 4 | Supplier 4 | Creditor 4 | Competitor 4 |
Financial Information (2008)
Ticker Symbol:CSCO
Main Exchanges:NASDAQ
Investor Website:http://investor.cisco.com/
| Shareholder | % Total Shares held |
|---|---|
| Capital World Investors | 4.04% |
| Barclays Global Investors UK Holdings Ltd | 4.04% |
| FMR LLC | 3.40% |
| State Street Corporation | 3.24% |
| Vanguard Group, Inc.(THE) | 3.08% |
Largest Shareholders[16]
Geographic scope paragraph
| Country | Revenue | Profits | Assets | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country 1 | Revenue 1 | Profit 1 | Assets 1 | Employees 1 |
| Country 2 | Revenue 2 | Profit 2 | Assets 2 | Employees 2 |
| Country 3 | Revenue 3 | Profit 3 | Assets 3 | Employees 3 |
| Country 4 | Revenue 4 | Profit 4 | Assets 4 | Employees 4 |
Governance
Executives[17]
- Mr. John T. Chambers , 59 (Exec. Chairman, Chief Exec. Officer, Pres and Member of Acquisition Committee)
- Mr. Richard J. Justice , 58 (Exec. VP of Worldwide Operations & Bus. Development)
- Mr. Randy Pond , 54 (Exec. VP of Operations Processes and Systems)
- Mr. Dennis D. Powell , 60 (Exec. Advisor)
- Mr. Frank Calderoni , 50 (Chief Financial Officer and Exec. VP)
Board members/affiliations Executive director/compensation Date and venue of next AGM
Contact Information
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134
United States
Phone: 408-526-4000
Fax: 408-526-4100
Articles and Resources
Books on the Company
Related SourceWatch Articles
Sources
- ↑ Yahoo! Finance accessed July 2008
- ↑ Jump up to: 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Pete Carey "A Start Up's True Tale" San Jose Mercury News. December 1, 2001.
- ↑ Yahoo! Finance
- ↑ "Open Secrets: Cisco Systems 2008 PAC Summary Data" accessed July 2008
- ↑ "Open Secrets: Cisco Systems Annual Lobbying Expenditures, 2008 accessed July 2008
- ↑ "Open Secrets: Cisco Systems Annual Lobbying Expenditures, 2006 accessed July 2008
- ↑ "Open Secrets: Cisco Systems Annual Lobbying Expenditures, 2007 accessed July 2008
- ↑ Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 10.
- ↑ Jump up to: 9.0 9.1 9.2 Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 33.
- ↑ Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 34.
- ↑ Jump up to: 11.0 11.1 11.2 Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 35. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "hightech35" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "hightech35" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Jump up to: 12.0 12.1 Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). "High Tech - No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China's Electronic Hardware Sector" May 2008. p. 36.
- ↑ Ethan Gutman "US/China: Up Against the Firewall" November 8, 2002.
- ↑ Kathy Chen and Jeffry Fowler "CHINA: Microsoft Shuts Down Blog Potentially Offensive to China" The Wall Street Journal January 5, 2006. Accessed on corpwatch.org July 2008.
- ↑ Brooke Shelby Biggs "The Old 'When in Rome' Excuse" January 19, 2006. Accessed July 2008.
- ↑ "Yahoo! Finance: Cisco Systems Inc." accessed July 2008
- ↑ "Yahoo! Finance" accessed July 2008
External Resources
External Articles
- Richard Cohen "CHINA: Business and Repression as Usual" The New York Times January 19, 2006. Accessed on corpwatch.org July 2008.
- Chang Chin-hsi, The Taipei Times "China: Businesses Help China's government abuse rights" February 9, 2007. Accessed on CorpWatch.org July 2008.
