Champion of better capitalism
I landed in Barcelona at around 10.30 in the morning. Half an hour later the ground under my feet suddenly seemed uneven. Why such a rough floor in such a modern airport? It turned out that the roughness was not in the floor I was … Continue readingAre you connected with the soul of your company?
A virtual garden. A clothing company for pets. A smart toothbrush that monitors your oral health as you use it. A multi-purpose bedside lamp/charging point/ alarm/ Bluetooth speaker. An app designed to help people in the healthy management of their nutrition, their stock control and … Continue readingDiscovering and nurturing tomorrow’s wealth creators
The tragedy of lives lost in Greece reminds us more than ever of the need to find safe routes for migration. This is a problem that all of us need to confront, whether we are individual or corporate citizens. And all of us includes businesses … Continue readingAsylum – is business playing its part?
I experienced a nasty discordant sound last month on hearing two pieces of news. First I learned from some of the world’s leading scientists who formed The Earth Commission that: Human activity has pushed the world into the danger zone in seven out of eight … Continue readingMemo to the chair: unhappy about ticking those ESG boxes? Then lead from the front
I was standing in the coffee queue at the University of East Anglia, in the break during the closing conference for our first-year business students. I turned to the student in front of me and asked if she had been at the session. “No” she … Continue readingCreativity – a basic requirement for business students
16 years ago, Tomorrow’s Company published the conclusion of an inquiry into the global company of the future. The tone was positive and optimistic. In the Tomorrow’s Global Company report of 2007, the assumption was that NGOs and businesses would work ahead of government, setting and committing … Continue readingTransparency was yesterday, tomorrow is about vigilance. Here are four questions boards need to ask.
‘It’s clear that while capitalism has a huge amount to offer in terms of wealth creation and encouraging free enterprise, it has still not found a way of enabling participation for all’ ‘Imagine a world where every young person not only has a small inheritance … Continue readingSet up a shadow board by all means, but when will you get serious about intergenerational fairness?
I listened recently to a fascinating BBC radio programme about housing in Vienna. There was so much to admire. Housing designed for community living; plenty of green space; accommodation rented to all social classes with no ‘no-go’ areas; a far sighted city authority had bought … Continue readingMigration – the fairness test to come
‘Degrowth is a planned reduction of energy and resource use designed to bring the economy back into balance with the living world in a way that reduces inequality and improves human well-being’. Jason Hickel, Author of Less is More Last week, experienced chair Heather Tierney-Moore … Continue readingDoes our company’s core activity help human beings thrive? If not, what are we planning to do about it?
Last week BBC Radio 4 hosted a discussion about capitalism between three authors – the Financial Times’ Martin Wolf, US Senator Bernie Sanders and economist Kate Raworth, whose contribution to an earlier broadcast I commented on here. None of these three participants spoke positively about … Continue readingThinking like an owner – a precious byproduct of capitalism