Publications
Publications
- March 2002
- HBS Case Collection
AOL, Cisco, Yahoo!: Building the Internet Commons
By: James E. Austin
Abstract
Since the spring of 2001, AOL, Cisco, and Yahoo! had collaborated on ways to improve the effectiveness of using the Internet to benefit society. Each company considered itself strongly committed to philanthropy, making significant charitable donations, and fostering a variety of active community outreach programs. Yet, executives at the three firms recognized the potentially larger impact that a joint effort could have on the greater public good. Overcoming a multitude of barriers to such intercompany cooperation, the firms decided to create Network for Good, a charity portal that individuals and nonprofit agencies in the e-philanthropy space could use to facilitate donations, volunteering, and citizen advocacy.
Keywords
Internet and the Web; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry
Citation
Austin, James E. "AOL, Cisco, Yahoo!: Building the Internet Commons." Harvard Business School Case 302-088, March 2002.