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June 23, 2008
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
The Economist is holding an online debate on Corporate Sustainability. The main question their asking is weather outside pressure is required for companies to take meaningful action on sustainability. The debate will be held during this week and until June 27th.
On the Pro side, Mindy Lubber, President of Ceres, comments on her opening statement the following:
“Outsiders—investors, environmentalists, public interest groups, other industry experts—have an essential role in pressuring companies on their handling of environmental and social threats. They should be asking tough questions; they should be offering creative, out-of-the-box ideas; they should be demanding real action; and they should be holding companies accountable.”
On the Con side, Björn Stigson, President of the WBCSD opens with the following statement:
"The resolution puts the relations between business and the rest of society into unhelpfully antagonistic terms. Business, in the black hat, is the recalcitrant offender, with no internal motivation to do the right thing while outside parties are the good sheriff, enforcing meaningful action on sustainability in an otherwise lawless frontier.
The resolution implies the following:
1. External influences are the main motivation for corporations in addressing sustainability issues.
2. Pressure is the best description of the relations between stakeholders and business.
3. Corporations always resist external accountability.
4. External pressure is both necessary and sufficient to get corporations to take meaningful action on sustainability."
Where do you stand on this debate? Take part on the conversation at the Debate Hall.
June 09, 2008
Joaquín Garralda, Vice Decano de IE Business School, Director del Centro PwC & IE de Responsabilidad Corporativa
El día 5 de junio asistí a un seminario para docentes que patrocinaba la Fundación Rafael del Pino en colaboración con la Universidad Complutense, en el que participaba la profesora María Guadalupe de Columbia Business School. Extraigo una observación que hizo el profesor Alvaro Cuervo en su presentación: “Los banqueros que formaban parte del jurado que te dió el premio a tu artículo, estaban muy contentos con las conclusiones de tu investigación”. En su artículo académico, la investigadora se cuestionaba sobre las razones del importante aumento de los salarios de los altos directivos en los años pasados. Se planteaba si la razón fundamental era un “pay for luck”, fruto de su poder en la empresa que en momentos en que el ciclo económico es muy positivo les es fácil subirse el salario, o si se debía más a la complejidad competitiva de sobrevivir en un mercado más globalizado.
La conclusión era que el factor que explicaba mejor el ascenso en retribuciones, no era el posible efecto de la “Teoría de la Agencia” que permite a la alta dirección subirse el sueldo en contra de los intereses de los accionistas, sino el aumento de complejidad atribuible al incremento de importaciones competitivas como resultado de la globalización de los mercados.
El artículo tiene más razones que podrían considerarse a favor de la justificación de las subidas retributivas - como el aumento del porcentaje de la parte variable sobre la retribución total - , pero la reflexión que hago aquí es si una justificación académica tiene suficiente fuerza frente a una percepción generalizada de abuso, que se desprende de muchos artículos en los medios de comunicación. A pesar de que a los banqueros les haya gustado, no creo que lo vayan a utilizar como argumento “fuerte” en debates públicos en los que prefieren mantener un perfil bajo sobre el tema.
May 27, 2008
Joaquín Garralda, Vice Decano de IE Business School, Director del Centro PwC & IE de Responsabilidad Corporativa
Ayer asistí a un taller sobre la Iniciativa de Transparencia de las Industrias Extractivas (EITI en inglés), en el que la doctora Karl, profesora de la Universidad de Stanford, mantenía que la causa de la pobreza e inestabilidad social de la mayoría de los países que son ricos en recursos naturales, en especial en petróleo, no se debía fundamentalmente a que los gobiernos fueran corruptos - que lo son a menudo y que es la parte visible del iceberg en muchos casos -, sino porque se había truncado la relación “natural” entre los ciudadanos y el estado.
Históricamente el estado va creciendo a partir de las aportaciones que hacen los ciudadanos con sus impuestos; sin embargo, en el caso de muchos países ricos en petróleo, el estado puede crecer mediante las transferencias de recursos de los demás países, sin tener que apelar a las rentas y ahorros de sus ciudadanos. Esta diferencia, tiene varias consecuencias. Por un lado, el estado, al no pedirles nada, no necesita tenerlos de su lado o aprobar sus proyectos. Por otro, al tener una fuente de ingresos que no está sometida a un intenso escrutinio por los ciudadanos, suelen utilizar los recursos de una manera arbitraria, favoreciendo a unos grupos frente a otros. Estos grupos favorecidos, suelen estar elegidos por el líder político de tal manera que le deban todo - como ya recomendaba Maquiavelo en su obra “El Príncipe” - lo que les hace ser profundamente fieles – en formas y conductas – a quien les ha favorecido. Para tratar de evitar la más mínima posibilidad de que el poderoso albergue una ligera duda de su lealtad, que le indujera a cambiar de colectivo favorecido con la misma arbitrariedad con la que les benefició en su momento, sus comportamientos son radicales y repetitivos. La consecuencia lógica de esta situación es que los líderes que alcanzan el poder cuando el precio del petróleo está alto, permanecen en él durante un período mayor que la media de los países, siendo además muy posible que el sistema político degenere en una dictadura deshumanizada.
Continue reading 'La maldición de la riqueza natural'
January 18, 2008
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
Check the economist of this week. A special report on CSR is included which has certainly evolved from that presented a couple of years ago and which clearly contributed to strengthen the conversation.
As one of the articles says, “Three years ago a special report in The Economist acknowledged, with regret, that the CSR movement had won the battle of ideas. In the survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit for this report, only 4% of respondents thought that CSR was “a waste of time and money”. Clearly CSR has arrived”.
The Economist now brings thoughts and insight into how once CSR was a do-gooding sideshow, and how it is now seen as mainstream. From ethics to consumers, going green and global, and most importantly how managers are trying to get it right and align it with their companies’ strategy and gain a competitive advantage. As they put it, CSR is just good business.
August 31, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
We’re back from the summer break and eager to continue the conversation on corporate responsibility and sustainability. As last year, I include a list of events and topics which took place in the month of August:
The winner’s of the “Disruptive Innovations in Health and Health Care” have been announced.
5 new Ashoka fellow’s in Mexico
Echoing Green has announced their 2007 Fellows
Cemex is considered as one of the leaders in BoP space both through Construmex and Patrimonio Hoy
Harvard Business Review’s article on the dangers of Microcredit
GE Money and their Earth Rewards credit card
The 2007 Global Development Awards and Medals Competition is now open
$100 laptop production launched
Take a look at people who live in Manhattan and yet receive agricultural subsidies from the US federal government
Interesting initiative of “Executives Without Borders” shared by Pablo Halkyard
Snapshot at Global Migration
Upcoming Social Venture Conferences
Social Enterprise Competitions
May 23, 2007
J.Pozuelo-Monfort, MSc candidate in economic development at LSE.
Extreme, External, Eternal
Published at elPeriódico.cat (In Catalan).
The three words that the debt and the poverty of the developing world have in common.
Extreme because debt and poverty have reached levels that are so regretful, so inhumane, and so beyond the normal levels, that need to lead to serious thinking in the industrialized world as to when and why this has happened.
External because the current levels of debt and poverty have been fostered by external causes. Their root might be in the developing world itself, but oftentimes not in its citizens, but in its corrupt leaders that once upon a time where given a wildcard to borrow as much money as they felt they needed to undertake their personal vision, far away from being backed and supported by their own citizens.
Eternal because debt and poverty risk to be long-time companions of a world that heads off in the wrong direction. An unequal world that operates according to the rules of a minority that is powerful and wealthy. An unequal world that operates according to the rules of a select club of nation-states unable to move forward and face the real challenges of the XXI century.
The Triple E. A challenging trilemma. One wonders who in this world of ours is responsible and can be accountable for a change. We are reaching a point in which the developing world will cry out loud and say it is enough. It is enough. We need public administrators ready to deliver. We need public administrators eager and willing to deliver. A huge responsibility lies on our shoulders as citizens of a democratic world whose leaders are not being consecuent and coherent.
The Triple E. Let's get to work.
May 07, 2007
J.Pozuelo-Monfort, MSc candidate in economic development at LSE
Corporations are oftentimes like families. Corporations are oftentimes structures governed on a one-vote per share basis where some parties have many more votes than others, and therefore much more control. Corporations are therefore non-democratic in essence in what can be considered a plutocracy where only the powerful determine the direction of corporate strategy. Today's capitalism is conceived as a top-down approach. Capitalism is built from the roof to the floor. The rules of the game need to be reversed. Today the universe of consumers follow the directions dictated by corporations. Today the consumer arena renders to the persuasion of advertisement. Today marketing is a weapon of mass persuasion, capable of driving trends and enforcing likes.
Once upon a time, in the middle of the XIXth century, corporations were more democratic. However today academics have decided to describe purely undemocratic behavior within corporations with such terms as agency problem.
In this scenario corporations have created its own code of conduct they have decided to denominate corporate governance. The architects of capitalism once built a basis unable to prevail over time, the same architects who now attempt to reinforce that same basis. The architects that once failed to construct properly should not be given a second opportunity under the likely event of failure. Third-parties with no stake in the game ought to take responsibility for what has become a matter of serious consideration. Corporations need to fulfill a set of ethical principles and be judged by consumers for its ability or inability to comply with the regulation. The consumer will then have real purchasing power. A consumer's purchasing power will then have an impact on corporations. The marketplace will then be democratic in essence and corporations will not be ruled by the better off, but by individuals who make thousands of purchasing decisions every year.
A new capitalism will then arise. A more democratic capitalism.
May 04, 2007
Julio Gómez-Pomar, Director del Centro PwC & IE del Sector Público
Las relaciones entre la administración y, en general, los poderes públicos y los ciudadanos han experimentado una profunda transformación en los últimos años. Hoy día, los ciudadanos no perciben a las administraciones públicas como instituciones que les son extrañas y cuya existencia y forma de actuar es plenamente independiente de su voluntad. Bien al contrario, éstos quieren y exigen que las administraciones y los empleados que las sirven sean eficaces y que su comportamiento sea transparente y responda a unos principios éticos. Ello ha motivado que más allá de las normas que establecen los derechos y deberes de los empleados públicos, muchos países hayan elaborado “códigos de conducta” o “códigos éticos” que constituyen un conjunto ordenado de reglas y principios de comportamiento o deontología especialmente adecuada para el desempeño de la función pública. Hablar de ética pública no es novedoso; lo que es más reciente es la preocupación por regularla, por establecer un catálogo de principios que les sea exigible a los empleados públicos y que traslade a la ciudadanía la forma en la que hoy los poderes públicos entienden el desempeño de sus cometidos. Indisolublemente unido a la idea de comportamiento o conducta ética está la idea de responsabilidad. Si al empleado público le son exigibles una serie de deberes y un comportamiento respetuoso con unos principios éticos, unos y otro solo cobran pleno sentido ante la sociedad cuando encuentran un nivel correspondiente y proporcionado de responsabilidad.
La forma en la que los países han abordado esta cuestión ha sido muy diversa. El nuevo Estatuto Básico del Empleado Público, aprobado el pasado 12 de abril, adopta una posición intermedia entre los países que recogen, como era nuestra tradición, los derechos y deberes de los funcionarios en una ley y los que más allá de la norma disponen de un código de conducta que no tiene un rango normativo. El nuevo Estatuto da un tratamiento a los principios éticos de actuación y comportamiento de los empleados públicos se sitúa entre lo “dispositivo” y lo “orientativo”. Los artículos 53 y 54 del nuevo Estatuto contienen, respectivamente, el catálogo de principios éticos y principios de conducta de los empleados públicos. Previamente, el artículo 52 enumera la relación de principios que deben guiar la actuación de los empleados: Objetividad, integridad, neutralidad, responsabilidad, imparcialidad, confidencialidad, dedicación al servicio público, transparencia, ejemplaridad, austeridad, accesibilidad, eficacia, honradez, promoción del entorno cultural y medioambiental y respeto a la igualdad entre mujeres y hombres.
Continue reading 'Ética Pública y el Nuevo Estatuto del Empleado Público'
May 03, 2007
Max Oliva, Director Asociado, Social Impact Management
Dirigido por Joaquín Garralda, Director del Centro PwC & IE en Responsabilidad Corporativa y organizado por la Fundación Santander, el foro de economía y sostenibilidad tendrá lugar en el Instituto de Empresa entre los días 7 y 8 de mayo, comprendiendo conferencias y debates de varios expertos en la sostenibilidad de las empresas.
Qué facetas y retos tiene el proceso de alcanzar el reconocimiento de ser un líder responsable? Con la pretensión de aportar criterios fundamentales para este nuevo paradigma y, al tiempo, exponer ejemplos prácticos de cómo las empresas ayudan – y se benefician – en este proceso. Durante dos sesiones en días consecutivos, destacados expertos, tanto en el mundo académico como empresarial, expondrán sus opiniones y experiencias sobre los factores dinámicos del contexto en el que se desarrolla la condición de líder responsable.
El primer día hará énfasis en aspectos conceptuales, destacándose la visión económica y de la comunicación, piezas claves del proceso. En el segundo día las intervenciones se centrarán sobre experiencias de las empresas desde distintas perspectivas, partiendo de la visión de una red supranacional de empresas preocupadas por la sostenibilidad, ejemplos de empresas grandes que aportan experiencias relevantes en la atracción y retención del talento, así como ejemplos de PYME, en las que los valores del empresario y la motivación emprendedora por proyectos sociales son la base de su comportamiento.
La gestión de los intangibles, y en especial la reputación, es una de las preocupaciones prioritarias de los gestores empresariales. Lograr las ventajas esperadas, no sólo depende de la racionalidad del motivo y de la eficacia de comunicarlo, sino que se debe tener en cuenta a las personas – en su multiplicidad de papeles – para dar coherencia y consistencia a las medidas de reputación.
Programa
Lugar: Instituto de Empresa (Aula Magna), María de Molina 11, 28006 Madrid.
Fecha: 7 y 8 de Mayo
Información y Reserva: ancir.salazar@ie.edu
March 22, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
The Research Workshop on Corporate Governance co organized by IE Business School, IESE, CEMFI and Universidad Carlos III had the participation of more than 40 academics from different Spanish universities and research centres. The finance department at IE Business School has made a strong bet on bringing high level scientific debate to the businesses corporate governance.
You can access both the papers from renowned researchers such as Professor Milton Harris (Chicago University, GSB), Professor Kose John (NYU Stern), Professor Colin Mayer (Oxford University, Saïd) and Professor Javier Suárez (CEMFI) as well as the discussions here.
The closing conversation reaffirmed how the reform of the Spanish government in regards to corporate governance, took into account advanced norms from other countries, as well as practical developments derivate from rigorous research, which were adapted to the Spanish reality as well as to the needs from national and international investment funds. If you are interested in further deepening into these discussions, contact Juan Pedro Gomez, Chair of our Finance Department.
March 07, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
How about a real space that fosters social innovation? A space where social entrepreneurship can be breathed on every corner. This has been The Hub in London experience. Their core product is flexible membership of inspirational and highly resourced habitats in the world’s major cities for social innovators to work, meet, learn, connect and realise progressive ideas. It is now present in London, Bristol, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo and Cairo. But the conversation is ongoing and advanced in the Netherlands, Mumbai, Berlin, Belgium, Halifax, Mexico and has several synergies with the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto, which is a “convergence facility” for the social mission community, The Melting Pot in Edinburgh and others.
The market need is expressed by social innovators whose ability to thrive requires access to highly resourced, flexible and safe spaces within which to scale up, change gear, take risks and make mistakes. Over time, social innovators need access to a range of just-in-time resources and market-facing opportunities to thrive: knowledge, capital and networks. The Hub provides channels to such resources and opportunities, without crushing the innovators initial spark and ingenuity.
We are engaging on a couple of action led conversations, one of which includes the openning of a hub like space in Madrid. If you want to be part of this conversation contact me.
February 23, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
You've got things to do. People to meet. Ideas to realise. Events to host. A business to run. So what's the deal? You need the flexibility to scale up, wind down, change gear, move on. You need a space you can call your own. You need a safe space, professional space, dynamic space. That is, A Space for Social Innovation.
Next week I'll be at The Hub in London and Briston, attending "The Art of Hosting Spaces for Social Innovation". What? An international seminar and inquiry exploring the art of crafting and hosting spaces that incubate imaginative initiatives for a radically better world. Why? A new model and pattern is emerging in physical and virtual spaces that support pioneering social initiatives. These habitats create the conditions for collaboration, serendipity and emergence such that value is created far in excess of the sum of their parts.
The objective is to build a network of inspirational habitats in major world cities for social innovators to work, meet, learn, connect and realise progressive ideas. The Hub is a place for making things happen. All the tools and trimmings needed to cultivate an idea, launch a project, host a meeting and run a business.
Over time, social innovators need access to a range of just-in-time resources and market-facing opportunities to thrive: knowledge, capital and networks. The Hub provides channels to such resources and opportunities, without crushing the innovators initial spark and ingenuity.
Well, these and many other conversations will take place next week. Hope to be able to post on a daly basis, in order to start the conversation of The Hub Madrid. Up to now The Hub in Madrid is what I have in mind as providing this social innovation stretch, a space where MBA alumni and others can start their social enterprises, meet, interact and learn from practitioners in the community and abroad. At the same time, these practitioners certainly will be enriched by the business perspective of value creation that IE MBAs can offer. Bluntly speaking, it is a great model which makes perfect sense on my mind. I’m certain that my perception will still change 180 or 360 degrees next week, hopefully bringing it closer to the right direction.
February 20, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
Are you aged 35 years or younger? Do you have an interest in the banking and related financial industries? Don't miss the opportunity then to take part on The Robin Cosgrove Prize.
The Prize is intended to reach out to young people familiar with the banking, finance and investment sectors, with special attention to emerging markets, and to attract innovative ideas, proposals and projects which could be promoted to major players in the business community. The aim is to strengthen the sustainability of ethics in banking and finance and to reinforce its implementation.
Carol Cosgrove, Robin's mother was at IE Business School this past November at the Find Your Impact Day and presented the competition to MBA students, on a moving and inspiring speech. An international jury will designate one or more prize winners and allocate the sum of USD 20,000 between them. The deadline is February 28th.
The Robin Cosgrove Prize honours the vision of Robin, who was a bright young investment banker who died at age 31. He believed passionately that a major barrier to economic development was the absence of integrity and often the lack of ethical practice in banking and financial systems. “How can a country prosper”, he would ask, “if people cannot trust their banks or financial institutions?”
If you need more information send an e-mail here.
El Premio Robin Cosgrove, que promueve la ética en el mundo de las finazas y del sector bancario, puede también ser presentado en Español. Si quieres más información baja el archivo pdf. Download file
January 22, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
IE Business School is hosting a Workshop on Corporate Governance to be celebrated on Friday, Februrary 16th. As part of our firm commitment to excellence in academic research, IE Business School, jointly with Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, CEMFI and IESE, brings together reputed scholars from overseas and local researchers in the field of corporate governance. This is a unique opportunity to interact with leading experts in corporate governance as well as with other colleagues working in this area.
This conversation include experts such as Milton Harris (University of Chicago, GSB), John Kose (NYU, Stern), Colïn Mayer (Oxford University, Saïd), Juan Santaló (IE Business School), Miguel Cantillo (IESE), Javier Suárez (CEMFI), María Gutiérrez (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid), among others. If you are interested in the content and conclusions of these conversations do let me know.
All relevant information about the Workshop is now available here.
January 09, 2007
Max Oliva, Associate Director, Social Impact Management
Time's Person of the Year is YOU. The tool that makes this possible is the World Wide Web. And we didn't just watch, we also worked. Its also time to take part on conversations that matter and to engage in actions that make a difference.
The World Economic Forum, which will take place January 24-28th, will use new web applications which will extend the discussions at the Annual Meeting 2007 to a much wider audience. The debates and discussions at Davos will be open to the general public via traditional broadcast channels, but also via webcasts, podcasts and for the first time, vodcasts.
The Forum will webcast over 50 of the 220 sessions. 31 of the sessions will be webcast live and a further 20 will be available for download once the session is over. All webcasts will be available also as pod- and vodcasts for download from Google video. All webcasts and vodcasts can be accessed here.
If you can physically join the event don’t miss the chance. If you were not invited, do join the conversations, it will definitely be worth your while.
…Still’s never been a time when both private citizens and public officials had the potential to shape a world of peace and prosperity. Could we screw it up if we let AIDS eat us alive? Yes. Could we go back to an ice age if we don’t do something about global warming? Absolutely.
…we’re building something we never had to build before so, don’t be discouraged and don’t use your political disappointments as an excuse to avoid personal commitment. Bill Clinton
Need to capture the essence of the annual meeting?
Plan your schedule in accordance to the Programme.
Join the Davos Conversation.
September 25, 2006
According to Nelson Mandela, the Clinton Global Initiative is addressing the greatest challenges the World faces. It is a call to action. What can I do as a global citizen? Your commitments can become a powerful tool in shaping a better world.
What has been intended to become an event which helps create a small piece of common ground, has actuallty been followed by +50,000 viewers from around the world. It has generated more than 218 commitments from twice that many people. The value of these commitments, not considering time and mind which are the most valuable and enriching, comes to more than 7.3 billion dollars.
You can summarize it with a word, Ubuntu, and with one of the most moving speeches given by Desmond Tutu."We won’t win a war against terror, so-called, as long as there are conditions in the world that make people desperate". (m. 44:40) and his remarkable closing speech (m. 1:02:00). Join the conversation.
Ubuntu
“A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”
Desmond Tutu
The focus areas of the CGI which try to cover the most serious issues affecting the world today are:
• Energy and Climate Change
• Global Health
• Poverty Alleviation
• Mitigating Religious and Ethnic Conflict
Get an insider view of the event. Martin Varsavsky covered the event through his blog, sharing his personal view and perspective of the event.
“To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” Nelson Mandela.
That’s what this CGI deal’s all about.
September 22, 2006
Max Oliva, Associate Director of IE's Social Impact Management
Don’t go to the gym, surf the web or leave office early today.
If you find a better way of INVESTING one hour of your time than by joining an enlightened conversation such as this, you must let me know. Join the conversation.
Effective action, lasting results. Improving the collective efforts of NGO’s and private citizens and addressing global challenges is the theme covered by:
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Former President, Federal Republic of Brazil
Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Chairman of the Board, Microsoft
Hernando de Soto, President, Institute for Liberty and Democracy
What can you learn from this, about what you might do in the NGO world, as citizens of the world? We live in an interdependent world that is unequal, unstable and unsustainable. We should try to create an integrated world of equal opportunities, shared responsibilities and common membership.
1. Look for countries that welcome NGO’s as partners and try to partner with them, that way, your work lasts.
2. Change the system.
3. Innovate.
• Learn about pressing sources of inequity in the world which, through coordinated philanthropy can be solved.
• Find those things were we can have a measurable impact, were we can make a difference and then focus there.
• Build systems and capacity.
They’re not naïve but they’re passionate.
September 21, 2006
Max Oliva, Associate Director of IE's Social Impact Management
The 2006 Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting, wich is truly designed to inspire action, is taking place September 20-22. You can watch it ALL through LIVE Webcasts.
I have just seen the "Building a Sustainable Future" session, moderated by Peter C. Goldmark Jr.
Program Director, Environmental Defense with panelists such as:
John Chambers, President & Chief Executive Officer, Cisco Systems Inc.
Al Gore, Chairman, Generation Investment Management
Klaus Kleinfeld, President & Chief Executive Officer, Siemens AG
Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director, Grameen Bank
Business accountability on sustainability issues, social enterprises as an engine of change, global warming and the impact we can all make in order to face the crisis were some of the subjects covered in the session. Al Gore makes reference to the global warming issue with brilliant symbolism, evoking the chinese symbol of crisis, which holds the meanin of both Danger and Opportunity. His closing speech was remarkable, I truly recommend it. Not only has he become, as we've stated before on this blog, a great and moving public speaker, but I'm still impressed by his "Impact and influence on the audience" capability, making you not only believe his message, but most importantly, making you commit to solving the crisis of our generation.
Just to understand his "moving" ability, Sir Richard Branson commited $3Billion to renewable energy initiatives. This implies the investment of 100% of profits from Virgin's transportation businesses over 10 years to combat global warming. This is an impressive announcement, not just monetarily, but actually comitting ALL your profits to this stake is something I still can not grasp.
If you have time, go into the live webcast of the remaining sessions and if not, I truly recommend leaving a couple of hours of your weekend to do so.
Some of the more than 100 commitments, amounting nearly $2.1 billion only on the first day are:
Abraham's Vision. Gadi Kenny commits to fund summer 2006 Vision Program, where Abraham's Vision educators took Jewish & Palestinian American students to the Balkans to engage in analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Learn more here.
Mobilize $500 Million To Benefit 50 Million People. To leverage Opportunity International's 35-year microfinance experience to mobilize $500Mby 2010 for financial services for 50 million poor, providing a better future for themselves and their communities. Learn more here.
Laboratory Services Strengthening. Working with the Ugandan government, FIND will create a model for reliable diagnosis of poverty-related diseases by identifying deficiencies in current services and addressing them through social franchising. Learn more here.
Watch all the Web Casts here.
May 24, 2006
Max Oliva, Associate Director of IE's Social Impact Management
The Club de Excelencia en Sostenibilidad, along with the Instituto de Empresa through the Sumaq Alliance, made up of seven of the top business schools in Latin America, have joined forces to bring forward the First Europe-Latin America Congress on Corporate Responsibility. This event will take place on June 26 and 27 of 2006 in Oviedo, Spain.
The Congress will feature sector-specific panels with CEO´s from leading firms based in Latin America and Europe, along with renowned scholars and members of important international institutions with Enrique Iglesias and Hernando de Soto just to name a few, which are at present involved in areas related with: Corporate governance, stakeholder dialogue platforms, socially responsible investment, intangible asset management, responsible innovation, responsible administration of human resources and responsible communication.
View here the Full Programme.
For further information, please click here.
May 12, 2006
Max Oliva, Associate Director of IE's Social Impact Management
Ney York, May 10th, 2006. Organized by ICC in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), the awards recognize the best practices of the business sector striving to reach the UN's Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty by half around the world by 2015. 10 Projects outstand by tackling critical needs within their local communities while providing a solution. Some Examples are:
CEMEX's Patrimonio Hoy, initiative which aims to reduce the Mexican housing deficit which leaves more than 20 million people with inadequate shelter. Patrimonio Hoy organizes l