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Archive for March, 2011
Failure, Leadership and Lessons Learned
What’s the difference between someone who becomes a good leader and one who doesn’t? Often it’s the ability to learn from failure. Columnist Gael O’Brien discusses leading thinking on how to analyze what went wrong and how best to reinvent oneself after hitting bottom. For those who get a second act, one expert says, timing can be critical: “You often get your second chance when no one else wants it.”
U.S. Chamber Lobbies to Weaken Anti-Corruption Law
Even as anger over governmental corruption has exploded into protests across the Middle East, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been working to weaken the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law that bans companies from bribing foreign officials.
World Bank Confronts Sustainability Criticism
Originally created to finance the rebuilding of Europe after World War II, the World Bank later took on a larger mandate to try to alleviate poverty around the world. Unfortunately, many of the Bank’s policies and practices in intervening years clashed with conservation priorities. But the more recent onslaught of global warming threats, along with greater overall public environmental awareness, has forced the World Bank to factor sustainability concerns into how it encourages development moving forward.
Leadership, Common Purpose and Shared Values
Columnist Gael O’Brien speaks with Joel Kurtzman about corporate culture, CEO leadership and the concept of a common-purpose organization. “It is difficult for a company to keep a sense of common purpose for longer than a decade,” he says. “It has to be nurtured or it goes away.” One company that has succeeded: American Express.
American Apparel and the Ethics of a Sexually Charged Workplace
Columnist Gael O’Brien discusses the controversy surrounding American Apparel’s marketing and its CEO, Dov Charney. “The irony of sexual freedom in the workplace is that it is about power, not romance,” she says. “It often ends up exploiting those most vulnerable.”
Can U.S. Nuclear Plants Handle a Major Natural Disaster?
As engineers in Japan struggle to bring quake-damaged reactors under control, attention is turning to U.S. nuclear plants and their ability to withstand natural disasters. U.S. Congressman Ed Markey has called for a reassessment. Several U.S. reactors lie on or near fault lines, and Markey wants to beef up standards for new and existing plants.
Mining’s Impact on Water Polliution
Mining disasters have grabbed a lot of headlines of late, but mines pose another insidious threat that tends to get little press attention: pollution of the nearby environment which, in turn, threatens the health of the people who live nearby. Environmentalists are particularly concerned about water pollution from mines.
A Cradle to Cradle Approach to Environmental Protection
The CEO of carpet maker Desso believes the “Cradle to Cradle” approach to manufacturing could change the design of the world, and not just in the carpeting industry. “It encourages consumers to buy more products,” he writes, “but to do so from innovative companies that have policies in place to recycle old products, turning waste into new products or into nutrients.”
SEC in Hot Seat, Facing Funding Fight and Criticism Over Ethics
Mary Schapiro, head of Securities and Exchange Commission, heads to Capitol Hill on Thursday to advocate for a funding increase, which Congressional Republicans have said that her agency doesn’t deserve. She has also been criticized for hiring a top lawyer for the SEC who had financial ties to Bernard Madoff, whose massive Ponzi scheme the agency failed to pursue for years.
New U.S. Law Represents “Sea Change” in Food Safety
The Food Safety Modernization Act expands the powers of the Food and Drug Administration to evaluate hazards in all kinds of food and to impose stricter standards on imported foods. Processors are now required to proactively take measures to prevent contamination, and must have plans in place for corrective action when something does go wrong.
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