CSR in Africa, a report from Botswana
February 3, 2014
I have just come back from a trip to Botswana where I was attending the 2nd Biennial Africa Academy of Management (AFAM) conference – a first to be held in the continent. I had looked forward to visiting Botswana ever since I watched the popular TV series The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. I must admit …
Finding My ‘CSR Family’
January 21, 2014
I recently co-ran a session for the PhD students in the Business School entitled, ‘how to make the most out of conferences.’ As I prepared the slides for this workshop, I began to reflect upon my conference journey, and my elation at finding an academic home for my research at my most recent conference. I …
In Conversation – Revisiting Corporate Citizenship
January 2, 2014
Why? Isn’t corporate citizenship just another term for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and part and parcel of corporate green-washing? Well, yes and no. Yes, in that many companies and commentators simply use it as an equivalent term for CSR, and often use it as fig-leaf rather than as a core value. No, if we take …
Business Schools and Responsible and Sustainable Business
December 17, 2013
It is a truth universally acknowledged that after some news of business irresponsibility, call it Enron or the 2007 financial crisis, the question is asked, ‘but what did they (the perpetrators) learn at business school?’. As our latest cohorts of students graduate, it remains a fair question. If business schools claim that they prepare students …
Tax is for Life, not just for Christmas?
December 10, 2013
In November 2013 the Institute of Business Ethics announced that in its latest survey of public opinion on corporate responsibility tax was now the number one issue of concern, having succeeded in knocking director remuneration off the top-spot which it had held for six years. This was an extraordinary finding. Six years ago tax and …
Corruption and Bribery – is risk management the answer?
December 9, 2013
The enforcement of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act against Siemens and BAE shows that a failure to address bribery can exact a very high cost on companies ($800 million and $400 million respectively), leaving aside damaged reputations among investors, employees, customers and business partners. Due to the recession in Western markets companies have been …
Doing the Business 2013 – Gasland II
November 27, 2013
In the fourth and final instalment of this year’s film series, we showed Gasland 2 (2013) directed by Josh Fox. In order to confidently introduce the sequel I also watched Gasland (2010). Josh Fox’s first documentary about hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’. The rather moving and personal story of Gasland strongly reminded me of Rachel Carson’ …
Doing the Business 2013 – Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night & The Phantom of the Operator
November 20, 2013
The following blog summarises Professor Laurie Cohen’s introduction to a double bill of films about working on the phones: Both films, in their own ways, deal with the strictly managed regimes, the disembodiment and the identity transformations that such work involves. Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night, produced and written by Sonali Gulati, in 2005 …
Doing the Business 2013 – We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
November 12, 2013
Founded by the Australian ‘Internet Activist’ Julian Assange, Wikileaks (not affiliated with Wikipedia!) claims to bring “important news and information to the public” whilst ensuring that “journalists and whilstleblowers are not jailed for emailing sensitive or classified documents”. A safe haven for would-be corporate or government whistleblowers (e.g. US army private Manning) Wikileaks has been …
Are you a whistleblower?
I was invited to give an introduction to whistleblowing by the ICCSR before a screening of the film We Steal Secrets. I was keen to talk to people about the experience of whistleblowing from the Public Concern at Work (PCaW) perspective. PCaW is a UK based charity that provides advice to individuals who have witnessed …
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