GIBS (Gordon Institute of Business Science)

It pays to have friends in low places which is why I got to spend an hour and a half listening to Tito Mboweni, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of SA, last night as he dropped his bombshell that CPIx was at 10.4% and that drastic action was called for.  Why?  Because central bankers who consistently fail to meet their inflation targets loose credibility was his response.  You should have seen the look on the faces of the myriad journalists in attendance as they thought about getting him to be more specific about what he meant by “drastic”.  So where did I get to hear the affable Governor?  The Gordon Institute of Business Science, or GIBS for short, that’s where.  GIBS runs a number of forums during the course of a year – probably three or four per month.  Maybe its just me but trying to brand something as conservative as a business school must be one of the most difficult marketing jobs around.  So why is GIBS getting it so right?  One of the ways is to have the sort of gravitas necessary to attract people like Tito Mboweni to address one of their forums while at the same time allowing him to make sure his calls for drastic action on CPIx are spread over every newspaper front page today.  Their forums are a smart opportunity to interact in a meaningful way with opinion leaders and potential students and sponsors but in a soft sell environment.  It’s this type of socially responsible investment that puts GIBS on my list of companies getting corporate social responsibility (CSR) right.  Investing in the continuing professional development of business professionals,  as a means for achieving CSR, is itself inspirational.  Be inspired.

Social responsibility

Yesterday I discussed the link between sustainability and social responsibility and then defined sustainability in terms of the triple bottom line – people, planet and profit (synonomous terms like environment, society and governance can also be used and are more aligned with the UN Guidelines of responsibile investment).  I then went on to link social responsibility to an enhanced reputation.  There is a step in between the two though and it’s called ethical business practice.  This is because the foundation stone of social responsibility is ethical business practice.  As a marketing professional I understand branding and brand theory to be founded on the principles of brand reputation – over the next couple of posts I want to explore this in some more detail, looking at some brands that I think understand this principle and others that I suspect don’t.  If you want me to cover any particular brands – product or organizational, let me know.  Be inspired.

Sustainability and social responsibility

Sustainability is the “in-thing” right now and looks certain to enjoy significant emphasis in the King III report when it’s released in the first quarter of 2009.  It’s not difficult to understand why if you accept the need for sustainability throughout the triple bottom line of people, planet and/or profit.  At the heart of sustainability though is corporate social responsibility which is becoming increasingly important to investors as they want both a superior return and a sense they are doing something good.  It’s also the best way to retain your most valuable resource – your people – while also attracting the best that new talent has to offer.  Attracting and retaining customers, investors and talented people is the only route I know of to sustainable competitive advantage.  Be inspired.

The real reason why Tiger Wood’s doesn’t cheat

Check out this article by me in today’s edition of Business Day (7 May 2008, p. 11).

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/ManagementAndLeadership.aspx?ID=BD4A761604

Let me know what you think

 

Compassion and forgiveness

Compassion and forgiveness rarely, if ever, get discussed in management and Board meetings until such time as a company finds itself before regulatory authorities or caught in the full glare of media attention concerning unethical business practice.  When that happens the first thing companies ask for is compassion and forgiveness for their actions from their staff, customers, shareholders and suppliers.  If you take a look at most corporate value statements though words and phrases like innovation, the development of staff, a learning organization etc are there in abundance.  How do you innovate if you don’t make mistakes?  How do you train staff if they are never allowed to get it wrong?  And this is where the contradiction comes in:  Most companies will say their staff are encouraged to make mistakes and to learn from others who get it wrong.  How do you do that without compassion for the employee when they get it wrong?  And what about forgiveness?  Without forgiveness no one would be willing to do anything for fear of the consequences of making a mistake.  Nope, compassion and forgiveness need to be talked about at all levels if that corporate value statement is to mean anything more than poetry on the wall.  Only when employees know they will be treated compassionately when they get it wrong, and that forgiveness and learning are inextricably linked, will real innovation and learning take place.  Once that happens a corporate value statement will take on a life of its own, leading to sustainable competitive advantage.  Be inspired.  

Working definition of moral intelligence

Moral intelligence is more than knowing the difference between right and wrong or how you ought to live.  It directs an individual’s conscience (the seat of all the faculties we honour) to good and includes universal moral truths like integrity, responsibility, compassion and forgiveness. Most corporate value statements include integrity and responsibility – where integrity is doing what you say you are going to do with honesty, standing up for what is right and keeping promises; and responsibility is taking responsibility for your actions such that they are.  Compassion and forgiveness though are less popular and yet most value statements include concepts like being a learning organization and the personal development of their employees.  There’s a contradiction there which I’ll explore in the next post.  Be inspired.