In January 2003, some household name US corporations were featured in a story in the Financial Times. The story reported that the companies had given financial donations to a charity linked to a terrorist organization. The names of the companies were included in the headline of the story. Ouch. One of the companies had a matching grant program. One of their employees donated to a charity that turned out to be indirectly associated with a terrorist organization and when the matching grant program kicked in the company made a direct donation to that organization.

I recently spoke on a panel about how the internet and e-commerce are transforming global business.  My message was that you could make the argument that e-commerce could be considered the 3rd major evolution in the global economy since the industrial revolution. The first was the dramatic improvements in telecoms and transportation, which virtually eliminated time and distance as trade barriers.

FedEx provides the efficient access that businesses of all sizes need to succeed, build prosperous communities and raise living standards worldwide. Just ask a British mother who redesigned a simple handbag. In just three years this FedEx customer turned her product into a $3.3 million global business called Cambridge Satchel Company. Or talk to the founder of OtterBox, a company that makes protective cases for mobile devices.