Spreadsheet Three

It Pays to Set Standards
Deciding not to do business in China had a negative financial impact on Levi Strauss & Co., but "it was the right ethical decision for our business," George B. James, MBA '62, told a Business School audience in May. "Not many companies followed us."
James, CFO for the clothing firm that manufactures in more than 60 countries on six continents, said cost is just one factor in making the decision to manufacture outside the United States. In the early 1990s, the firm adopted a set of standards for assessing practices of its business partners as well as the political and social issues in the country where the work took place.
The guidelines require wages and benefits that are legal or match the prevailing wage and appropriate overtime compensation. They also ban child labor, forced labor, and the use of physical or mental coercion.
After adopting the new standards, James said Levi Strauss discovered that a contractor in Bangladesh employed youngsters under age 14. The company felt it needed a solution that would protect the families of the children, many of whom depended on the wage to support the family.
"The contractor agreed to pay the 35 underage children their salaries and benefits while they went to school full time. We agreed to pay for books, tuition, and uniforms. And when the children reached legal working age, they were offered jobs in the plant."
Corporations that establish high corporate standards ultimately see the benefit in their financial performance, James said. "Studies by research groups such as Yankelovich Partners and Opinion Research Corp. underscore the point that companies that look beyond solely maximizing short-term profits and are driven by values and a sense of purpose outperform other companies," he said.
James was the 1997 Arjay Miller Visiting Lecturer. The lecture program, endowed by the former Business School dean, brings chief financial officers of major corporations to the School.
Asked if his firm would reconsider its decision not to do business in China, James said it is giving the issue more thought. "We manufacture in Hong Kong," he said.

Road to Bali
For the first time , Stanford will hold an alumni conference in Asia, hoping to attract graduates from all over the world but particularly from the Pacific Rim. Earlier conferences have been held in Europe and throughout the United States.
Sponsored jointly by the Stanford Business School Alumni Association and the Stanford Alumni Association, the conference will be held in Bali May 1 and 2, 1998, and will include presentations by faculty from the Business School and the University.
For further information, contact John Lyon, assistant director of alumni relations, at 650-723-2694, e-mail Lyon_John@gsb.stanford.edu.

Center Seeds Entrepreneurs
The year-old Center For Entrepreneurial Studies is encouraging MBA students to get real-world experience in entrepreneurial companies according to Director of Programs and Administration Brigitte Shearer, MBA '92. Over the summer, three students interned in entrepreneurial companies, aided by the center's own startup, the Stanford Entrepreneurial Education and Development (SEED) program. The concept of SEED, a fund to assist students interning in small companies that would otherwise not be able to afford their pay, was conceived by students in the core course in marketing management and brought to reality by Rick Dodd and Ken Fine, both MBA '97, and Shearer. SEED funding of $4,000 per student was provided through the center. To be eligible, students must also qualify for financial aid.

Throwaway Computers
When a telephone breaks , most Americans don't hesitate to toss it out and replace it with a new low-cost instrument. Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corp., painted an image of future computer information networks hooked to relatively simple computers that can be replaced at will.
"Today's personal computer was designed as a stand-alone device. It is so complicated and so expensive, it is straining the budgets of America's biggest corporations and is unavail-able to 70 percent of American households," Ellison told a Business School audience. "In addition, 90 percent of Japanese households and Western European households don't have PCs, and 99 percent of households throughout the world don't have PCs.
"The adoption rate of personal computers is dropping. It was 4 percent last year and 2 percent will adopt this year. We will never have an information age with that many households disenfranchised."

Almost As Good As Being There
If you missed the excitement at the social entrepreneurship track of the GSB's first Conference on Entrepreneurship in March, a transcript of the four sessions is available at cost. Audiences were SRO throughout the day as participants debated the hows and wherefores of addressing public-sector problems with private- sector know-how. The track was the culmination of the 1996-97 Public Management Inititiative in social entrepreneurship, and speakers ranged from entrepreneurs with nonprofit startups to foundation funders and venture capitalists who specialize in the public sector. For a copy, send $5 and your address to Pat Sandoval, GSB, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305-5015.

Sorry, No Vacancy
A month before the Schwab Center's official dedication October 7, students are pouring into the living-learning center's spiffy new single-person apartments. Priced to compete with off-campus housing, the center will house 220 MBA students and 60 executives during the regular academic year; summers are reserved for executive education. All MBA apartments were taken by the end of June.