Responsibility
Responsibility
The economics of climate change
Rich countries have to take the lead in fighting global climate change. Lord Nicholas Stern, an economics professor from the London School of Economics, says that without a commitment from wealthy countries, carbon emissions will become “deeply damaging right across the economy and around the world.”
Responsibility
Climate change
The continued rise in food prices is just one example of the kinds of surprises we will be facing in the years to come. Dr Ashok Khosla, founder of Development Alternatives – a non-governmental organisation devoted to promoting commercially-viable , environmentally-friendly technologies – and a former director of the United Nations Environment Programme , says “there are many surprises coming up. I mean real surprises. Climate change was already a pretty big one.”
Responsibility
Sustainability: a business opportunity
By the year 2040, only 15 per cent of the world’s population will be living in what are now called developed countries. It’s therefore essential for today’s business planners to start focusing on the rest of the planet. Fortunately a strategy centred on emerging markets can be both financially profitable and socially responsible, says Barbara Kux of the Dutch multinational Royal Philips Electronics.
Operations
CEO view: Ben Verwaayen of BT
Sustainability is becoming an increasingly hot topic in business circles, but when it comes to grasping the sense of urgency surrounding the issue, many of the current generation of business leaders aren’t very good at ‘getting it’. That’s according to the outgoing CEO of BT plc, Ben Verwaayen.
Responsibility
Meeting the sustainability challenge: HCL Technologies
Corporate India is just as committed as Europe and the United States to sustainability, asserts Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL Technologies Ltd.
Responsibility
Responsible leaders and sustainable growth?
Are business leaders really buying into sustainable development? According to McKinsey, only 20 per cent of executives feel that sustainability is part of their responsibility.
Responsibility
Scarcity and innovation: Powering the developing world
Scarcity of resources, scarcity of political consensus and scarcity of financing for innovation. These are some of the major challenges faced by companies in today’s global environment. That’s according to Leif Beck Fallesen, editor-in-chief and CEO of the Danish publication Dagbladet Borsen. Fallesen was the moderator of the first plenary session at the INSEAD Leadership Summit. He said these concerns are highlighted by a growing food crisis (wheat prices rose more than oil prices last year), climate change and decreased foreign investment (down by 9 per cent).
Responsibility
Social entrepreneurship: Innovative care for the elderly
Some ten years ago, when Jean-Daniel Muller and his friend, Jean-Michel Ricard, were studying to become sports teachers – both aged 23 – they felt that not enough was being done to help the elderly. So, they decided to develop a series of exercises for the elderly as part of their 3-month practicum, which would eventually form the basis of an innovative scheme.
Responsibility
Muhammad Yunus: Helping the less privileged unleash their entrepreneurial skills
Some thirty years ago, economics professor Muhammad Yunus made his first loan of $27 to a group of 42 women so they could expand their bamboo furniture making business.
Responsibility
Creating a climate for change
A new INSEAD-European Business Summit report on climate change has highlighted a surge in ‘green’ activities by US entrepreneurs, backed by venture capital.
Responsibility
Shell CEO van der Veer
If governments do not intervene, industries will meet the growing demands for energy in the cheapest way possible, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will increase. That puts Jeroen van der Veer, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell plc, one of the world’s leading petroleum companies, in an odd position: a leading capitalist campaigning for more government regulation.
Responsibility
Microsoft: Using technology to tackle climate change
Tackling climate change for Europe is “an incredible opportunity to innovate and compete with the rest of the world.” That’s the view of Microsoft International President Jean-Philippe Courtois, speaking at the recent European Business Summit in Brussels, which was devoted to climate change.
Responsibility
Intel’s Craig Barrett
The United States will need to improve its capacity to innovate if it wants to maintain its economic position in the world, says Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel Corporation. Furthermore, government must make R&D more of a priority, as should private industry.
Responsibility
Islamic microfinance gains popularity in war-torn Afghanistan
After spending several years in Iran as a refugee struggling to make a living working in a beauty parlour, Shooperi Sharif never imagined that one day she would have a business of her very own.
Responsibility
Counting the cost
'Rogue traders' are not exactly a new phenomenon, but when their activities eventually come to be uncovered by their bosses, they may have already run up hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars in losses.