CategoriesFrom the OfficeNGO-land has been in the grip of the “business approach” hype for some time now. As it goes with hypes, the interesting or original insights that kicked the whole thing off have become largely obscured under a superficial layer of jargon. Is there anything of substance left? There are two main variants to the business hype: Variant […]
Bill Clinton has just delivered his speech at AIDS2010. In his remarks, he referred to the lost hours and dollars spent at non-productive conferences that are a characteristic of the bloated overheads of many Westerns NGOs. President Clinton also pointed out that “healthcare is not only a right, but an extraordinarily good economic investment.” If you consider […]
In the 1970s, the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act marked the beginning of the end to corporations shirking responsibility for unsavoury/illegal practices carried out by their suppliers/partners. Since then it has become generally accepted that companies are responsible for the impact of their business activities, including those outsourced to third parties. Thank God we got that one sorted. (Roll film on BP-oil spill debacle.)
Nick Kristof’ recent article on blood minerals in eastern Congo has set off a lot of chatter in the blogosphere (see here, and here). There is a lot of talk about company’s “cleaning up their supply chains”. In the growing maelstrom of indignation, let’s not forget the human components of those supply chains: the transporters […]
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African proverb Teamwork. Most of us recognize (intuitively, logically or empirically) the importance and difficulties of building and nurturing good teams. I don’t want to add my personal philosophy to the vast tome of information (example) already available on […]
