A recent workshop reported by CAUX-Initiatives for Change brought together “eight business leaders from Europe, India and Japan, as part of a conference on ‘Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy’… They included Dr Jamshed Irani, board member of Tata Sons Ltd in India, Toru Hashimoto, Chairman of Deutsche Securities in Japan, and [EBBF-member] Dr Jean-Pierre Méan, Group Legal Counsel and chief compliance officer of SGS Ltd, Geneva, the world’s leading inspection, testing and certification company.

Their joint report highlighted “how trust in business and the global economy can be restored. Trust, say the business leaders, ‘requires trustworthiness and a commitment to be truthful; this includes full transparency in accounting and compliance with accounting standards; it also implies honesty in business transactions and the refusal of any corruption.’”

Presenting their report, Dr Méan said that ‘we have to restore human rights as an absolute and intangible value for the whole of humanity’. He deplored investors’ demand for quarterly results which made managers too focused on share prices and short term results. ‘This has contributed a lot to the current financial crisis,’ he said. The business leaders call for long-term thinking. This also required CEOs to remain in office for longer terms than the current three to five year cycle, prevalent in some countries, Dr Méan said.

The article continued: Read the rest of this entry »

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EBBF co-founder Ezzat Zahrai just sent in this comment highlighting how central the question of ethics is becoming to the heart of modern business:

… large companies are becoming more and more conscious of the ethical aspects in running their businesses. As an associate director of the “Cercle d’Ethique des Affaires Paris”, which is a like-minded organization, I was invited to attend the launching of the “Charter of Ethics” of the L’Oreal group of companies. The Charter is translated into 41 languages of the countries in which L’Oreal has facilities. All top and middle managers have received a copy and must respect it in their business activities. L’Oreal has also created a top Ethics Manager to implement the provisions and control the application of the Charter. [Interestingly,] this new officer who reports directly to the CEO seems to know the European Baha’i Business Forum and promised to send me a copy of their Annual Social Report.

Do you have any news that highlights how the principles EBBF strives to promote and share are being applied in your companies? What is motivating people and companies to pursue ethical questions? Do you think these efforts are enough? Are there further steps the company’s must take? If you have any stories or insights to share, do get in touch with us!

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Readers of EBBF’s e-magazine Inspire will be familiar with Steve Hall, whose efforts in the field of “green” building and development was featured in an article last year.

Steve will also be offering a workshop sharing his experience and ideas to get involved in green buildings on the Saturday program of the EBBF Annual Conference.

Here are some excerpts from recent correspondence with him demonstrating that the demand for such projects that take into account not only comfort and price, but also community and sustainability, is on the rise:

We are engaged in a major renovation of a 60,000 square foot building in New York City, The Princeton Club of New York (image on left), using cogeneration with a target of a LEED gold rating. We are also managing the renovation and repair of a landmark church complex in a suburb of NYC. And we have been asked for a proposal for “deep Green” commercial project in the downtown of a classic New England town here in Connecticut. We are also working on the potential redevelopment of a major office park on 45 acres in another nearby classic NE town. We envision a graduated care complex for the retirement market that models the Baha’i ideas of community providing intergenerational integration of many complementary activities that will give back positive energy and benefits to the town at large while also providing an opportunity for the retirement residents to use their talents and energies to continue productive lives.

So overall, we have been very busy just trying to handle a growing business demand for doing Green projects!

Steve provided more details of the projects he’s working on:

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Pushed by his principles which are drawn from his faith, EBBF member Joachim Monkelbaan has recently made the move to Switzerland to take up a position with the International Union for Conservation of Nature. He talks about the decision to move in a recent letter and also comments on the interesting emergent relationship between public, private and ‘Third sector’ organizations:

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Currently I am being seconded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). IUCN is an international organization that helps develop conservation science, manages field projects all over the world, and brings together a great variety of players to develop and implement policy. It does so on behalf of its members: most of the world’s states, government agencies, and almost one thousand NGOs.

At the Global Policy Unit of IUCN, we connect feet-in-the-swamp conservation work with the global policy arena (such as UN and G8 meetings): ‘think global and act local’ in motion. Currently we are preparing the quadrennial World Conservation Congress where 10,000 decision makers in sustainable development—from not only governments, NGOs, the UN, and academia, but also from business—will get together.

I chose to be seconded to IUCN because of my strong interest in sustainable development, which I regard as a rephrase of Read the rest of this entry »

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In this letter EBBF member Sonia Soldati shares her work journey as she’s sought to find meaning and joy in her work. When reading the letter it might be interesting to consider what is it that enables or encourages certain companies and organizations to treat their human resources differently? Is it different values?

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Though I only started working 5 years ago, I have been an employee in 7 different workplaces around London. In the past I have mainly worked in the profit sector (recruitment agency, major airline company and IT training company). When I chose to study Human Resources, I didn’t think there would be much difference working for a profit or non profit as I thought I was serving people and that was my priority in life.

In reality I realised that in the profit sector people are often not considered as people but rather numbers and I felt my role was more like being a company lawyer, making sure we were abiding by the protocols so the angry candidates or employees didn’t have any grounds for disciplinary or legal action. This obviously created a very negative image of HR and a feeling of distrust. We were always seen as the evil ones, the enemy and therefore it was difficult to change anything as employees were not responsive to HR suggestions or requests.

In my current organisation I feel we put people Read the rest of this entry »

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 You can find another nine “meaningful job offers” clicking here in the latest edition of INSPIRE and if you cannot find anything that’s for you there then perhaps the following position at UNESCO may be of interest to you.

The post of the Chief of the ICT in Education, Science and Culture Section is presently open for recruitment at the Information Society Division of UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector.
The major responsibilities of the post are the planning, implementation and evaluation of the strategy, regular programme activities and extrabudgetary projects of the Section.

More particularly, the incumbent of the post will provide intellectual, strategic and operational leadership of the Section; ensure the management of its staff; advise Member States on the use of ICT in education, science and culture; plan and execute projects of strategic nature.

Candidates to the post must have advanced university degree in communication/information, at least 10 years of progressively responsible relevant experience (preferably at the international level), recognized experience in leadership and proven ability in planning and managing projects in the area of ICT in education, science or culture.

The vacancy notices available on UNESCO’s website contain, inter alia, more detailed information on duties and responsibilities, qualifications required, salary and benefits, and on how to apply. 

When applying for UNESCO vacancies, please only use the online recruitment system at www.unesco.org/employment. Candidates without access to Internet may send a paper application by completing the official UNESCO CV form (available at Headquarters, UNESCO Offices, National Commissions in Member States, or any office of a United Nations Resident Representative) in English or French to: 

Chief, HRM/RCR, 
UNESCO 
7 place de Fontenoy 
75352 Paris 07 SP 
France 

before 4 September 2008, quoting the post number: CI-004.

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Three EBBF members (Augusto Lopez Claros, recent member Gibran Armijo [far left in the photo] and Daniel Truran) were invited to attend an unforgettable evening with honorary EBBF member Muhammad Yunus in Madrid. Below we summarize some of the concepts that Mr. Yunus offered in his usual brilliant yet humble, always tremendously generous, available yet gently determined attitude.

I start with the great news that 64% of Grameen borrowers who have been part of the Grameen program for more than five years have officially climbed out of what Grameen defines as the poverty line.

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