I’ve recently got into Twitter. Despite my initial inclination to only follow the likes of Stephen Fry and other Tweeting celebs I’ve actually found it rather thought provoking. Of course, there are many comments regarding recent toothbrush purchases or trips to the vets which don’t put a spark in my day – but there are others which have made me stop and think.
One recent Tweet was ‘Business ethics is an oxymoron’ – a well used phrase but one which never fails to get my goat. My initial reaction was to reply saying, “Why is it that we feel we must accept an outdated view of business as ‘dog-eat-dog, each bastard for themselves’? Can’t we instead embrace the social collaboration of value creation that modern capitalism can be if only we all try?” – but that was more than 140 characters. So I thought perhaps I’d try to explain my view in a bit more fully.
Continue reading ‘Is “Business Ethics” really an oxymoron?’
This week sees the tenth anniversary of the death of Cardinal Basil Hume, that wonderful Archbishop of Westminster.
A man of astonishing integrity and authenticity, Hume was wont to describe his vocation as a tension and a sometime coming together of “the desert” and “the marketplace”.
Continue reading ‘Bringing the Hope & the Doing of great Corporate Culture together’
“It’s just politics, what more do you really expect?”
This is a sentiment that has been trotted out in casual conversations and in media commentary throughout the last couple of weeks.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown teetered on the brink of overthrow through the twin assaults of, firstly, his collapsed general reputation within his own party and, secondly, the MPs expenses scandal which has battered politicians of all parties.
But perhaps most surprising of all is not that this quite extraordinary political farce has come to pass but rather that not many people are that surprised.
Continue reading ‘Time To Reclaim Our Expectations & Hope’
It’s still about the human relationships but we must never forget the infrastructure
I was reading a new article on the growing effects of Web 2.0 outside the strict boundaries of technology and it contained some broad statements about the possibilities of its effect on corporate culture.
At first it seemed like one of those sweeping claims that commentators sometimes like to work in just for the sake of making their specific area of interest seemingly more important – claims aiming for grandeur but only reaching hauteur.
And then it struck me that maybe I was being the Luddite, the one dismissing the latest technology, if not for its utility, at least perhaps in its implications and possibilities.
Continue reading ‘New Technologies And The Re-awakening of Actor Network Theory’
