7gen Bloc

It takes a lot for Americans to be truly shocked by the Austrian-Afghanistan disparities in executive-employee pay. Perhaps, when we read that the hedge-fund manager John Paulson was paid an estimated $3.7 billion last year, we might raise an eyebrow in surprise. ...

I have spent much of my life battling the dangers of chlorine and the household form of that chemical element, sodium hypochlorite. So it was with great interest that I sat in on a talk by Bill Morrissey, Clorox's vice president of sustainability, at the recent "Sustainable Brands" conference in Monterey, California. ...

A conversation with Google's CEO Eric Schmidt Here are outtakes from my notes on Eric Schmidt's talk at the Future of Management conference (see Part 4 from June 6): "The culture defines the outcome," in terms of the products and services Google creates. ...

Maximizing the Organization's Potential A discussion with W. L. Gore CEO Terri Kelly Last week, at Gary Hamel's Future of Management conference (see Part 3 from yesterday), I had a chance to sit down with Terri Kelly, CEO of W.L. Gore & Associates. While Gore, the makers of Gore-Tex fabric, generates more than $2 billion in annual sales, employs more than 8,000 people worldwide, and is currently celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding, ...

All of the attendees at Gary Hamel's conference on management innovation were assembled in one room (see Part 2 from yesterday). The entire group engaged in a dialogue during the day's first few hours. It was quite amazing that 35 highly opinionated people could (for the most part) hold one conversation. ...

It is impossible to describe all of the conversations at Gary Hamel's conference on management innovation (see Part 1 from yesterday). The dialogue ranged from questions on whether we had the right language to describe how to drag management into the 21st century; is "management" even a relevant concept in a world where the "wisdom of crowds" and wikis increasingly hold sway; do we even want to help business become more effective, when it's already too effective at destroying the world's resources; ...

A few months ago, I received an unusual invitation. It began with, "Permit me to introduce myself. I'm Professor of Strategic Management at the London Business School, the Director of the Management Lab, and an author (Competing for the Future, The Future of Management, etc.)." ...

It's hard for most of us to imagine what it's like to go to sleep hungry, let alone to watch a child die slowly from starvation. We read the headlines about global food prices. We see charts that show how prices of corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans have more than doubled in the last year. And we watch pictures of food riots on the TV news. But it seems there's little that we can do to make things right. ...

If I could say it better I would, but I can't so I won't. PLEASE read this excerpt from the introduction to "The Greenwash Guide" by Futerra, a UK consulting company. "Greenwash isn't simply annoying, it's dangerous. In a market economy the consumer is king, and consumers have started sending strong environmental signals through their purchasing. This growing 'green trend' is a powerful force compelling the economy to clean up its environmental act. ...

Recently the Wall Street Journal explored one aspect of this perennial question. Will consumers pay more for products they believe are ethically superior to regular products or even products produced in an unethical fashion? I have known the answer to this question for quite some time. If consumers weren't willing to pay a premium for products that are ethically produced, Seventh Generation would simply not be in business. ...