For many organizations, profit and non, one of the hardest parts about growing as an organization is maintaining focus. But, even for those that do there is another problem. Maintaining the culture of the organization. Something that I have seen over and over again in many of the organizations that I have worked with, and more personally, some of the organizations that I have founded. Called "T…
Thoughts from Bill Clinton, former President of the United States and Founder of the Clinton Foundation: The 21st century is either going to be the most interesting time in human history, or it is going to be very bleak, and I don't think we have decided yet. We haven't made the fundamental decisions about whether we are going to share the future or fight over it. - Bill Clinton After…
Last week was "boot camp". 200 MBA students engaged in a week of sustainability. Lectures, panels, movies, workshops, and case studies. It was an intense period that precedes their projects (we launched 34 student projects at the same time), and is meant to give students an understanding of the issues faced (environmental, social, and economic), the role of the firm, and the responsibility t…
When speaking about sustainability, I often revert to a patter of addressing the what, why, who, and the how much. What are the problems. Why these problems are important Who will is responsible for addressing them How much it will cost And without exception, I can carry a crowd of MBAs, EMBS, EVPs, or CEOs, through the first two because with a couple of tweaks to my pitch I can c…
For those of you who missed it, the World Bank came out with a report today stating they are now seeing a reasonable chance that the temperature of the Earth will rise 4 degrees by 2060. To say that this will have radical consequences on large geographic areas and populations on Earth is an understatement, but one has to wonder... will anything be done in time? This was a question that I f…
Tweaking the graphics that I have come to rely on for many of my presentations, I decided it was time to take a crack at developing a visual representation of what I feel has become the gap between economic performance and social and environmental sustainability. And the above was what I have come up with. For me, where this simple visual I believe does the job is that the sustainability gap…
Last week, I returned to speak for the fourth time at the China Supply Chain Council on an issue I have spent a lot of time on, recalibrating supply chains. Focused on the impact that local issues and stakeholders are going to have on the supply chain’s of many operating in China,the overarching goal of the presentation was to highlight opportunities for firms to strengthen current systems as wel…
When occupying as dynamic of an ecosystem as we do now, there are bound to be a few questions about the latest programming that everyone is talking about. CSR, sustainability, social entrepreneurship, and public and private impact investment have in one form or another been held up at the model of the future. Only to find the term overused to the point where cynics are allowed to enter and questio…
Last week, we held the second in the Beyond Business As Usual events, Social Innovation as a Sustainable Business Model. Hosted by HK Polytech University, roughly 220 people showed up to learn about what social innovation was and how it is rolling out through organizations large and small. For my part, I focused on the fact that as "Business as Usual" moves from a model where profit maximiz…
Social Entrepreneurship Lecture Series - Business Beyond Usual - Social Innovation as a Sustainable Business Model Can Social Innovation be a sustainable business model? Nowadays, we do not simply rely on the government or NGOs for solving social problems. What can be done by a start-up enterprise or multinational corporation? How will Social Innovation be incorporated into their business pr…
If there is one thing that I have come to understand over the years it is the value of learning. At times, that means getting out into the field to learn about the challenges that are faced in society / environment, while at other times it means spending time with executives from different industries to understand the pressure that firms are facing. But, this week I will be doing something differ…
For me there are few speakers more interesting to me that Gary Vaynerchuk, Social Media's poster child and author of The Thank You Economy, and at a recent keynote he said the following: Imagine if business, because of the way the world is going, had to actually for the first time in about a hundred years started really caring about the people they sold their products to? It was a statement was…
Here it is folks. My first TEDx presentation - One Person Can Make a Difference. I was fortunate to have followed 6 speakers in August at the TEDxWanchai event. 6 speakers who had taken steps to change the world in their own little way, and by being the closer for the evening it was my job to take all that inspiration and turn it to action. I hope it inspires you to act as well. "Inst…
When looking to develop CSR programs that engage their employee base and the community at the same time, fewer programs are of interest than a day out volunteering at a school, elderly center, or school. It is an event that should have clear exceptions for the volunteer and the community partner, is more often than not meant to be fun (as a primarily channel for impact), and afterwards everyone…
Speak the words "Corporate Social Responsibility" and more often than not the perception of what is CSR is related to the philanthropic and volunteer initiatives of the firm. With some still only focused on philanthropy alone (particularly in China). It is a stereotype that I see reinforced time and time again by organizations as their CSR managers are asked only to manage those activities as…
