This Briefing Document, by Tomorrow's Company, summarises the strengths and weaknesses of both aid and trade within a poverty reduction strategy. It shows that it is important to distinguish between different types of aid, as the efficacy of each is dependent on the context in which it is administered. An assessment of the success of trade led growth strategies in reducing poverty is made and the difficulties faced by developing nations in following such a strategy are explored. The Tomorrow's Company Briefing Documents are intended to provide the reader with a comprehensive introduction to a particular topic. You can find the full list of Briefing Documents on forceforgood.com here.

In 2007, the CNA Military Advisory Board (MAB) released the landmark report “National Security and the Threat of  Climate Change,” which found that climate change constitutes a “threat multiplier” to existing security risks in some of the most volatile regions in the world. A 2008 National Intelligence Assessment con?rmed the report ?nding that climate change is a serious threat to national security and long-term global stability. The MAB, which is comprised of some of the nation’s most respected retired admirals and generals, also found that “Climate change, national security, and energy dependence are a related set of global challenges.” The following is a report produced by CNA expanding on previous findings.

The following is an extract from on-going discussions which started in October 2008 between Nick Gould, a corporate partner at Ince & Co, International Law firm, and several other interested parties. The matter has gained particular prominence this week following an article by Sir Kenneth Mac Donald a previous director of Public Prosecutor in The Times. Nick Gould is a partner in the City law firm and had spent much of the last two years or so gaining some understanding of a major piece of commercial legislation entitled “The Companies Act 2006”; the largest piece of legislation ever brought into UK law, consisting of some 1,300 sections, 16 schedules and,  200 pages of explanatory notes as well as numerous Ministerial statements, written statements, ‘Regulatory Impact Assessments’, briefs and dozens of statutory instruments to date. The Act took more than eight years of review, research and lobbying to produce, finally reaching the statute books in late 2006. It will take the best...

   “A lack of long-term stewardship by company heads and shareholders is at the heart of the current financial crisis, an influential think-tank says in a report published on Wednesday. Tomorrow’s Company, whose previous research has helped shape UK company law, urges the government to understand better the effects of the growing “casino economy”, where activities such as derivatives trading are often far removed from the real economy activity to which they theoretically relate. The report warns against the search for scapegoats for the current crisis and says that it is wrong to attack private equity, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds for irresponsibility, noting that different shareholders perform different functions. However, it condemns the practice of borrowing shares for voting purposes and asks if investors need to toughen up their engagement to change company behaviour or divest holdings in companies with particular shortcomings. Mark Goyder, Tomorrow’s Company...

Regardless of sector, size, structure or maturity, to be successful, organisations need to establish an appropriate management framework.  The EFQM Excellence Model was introduced at the beginning of 1992 as the framework for assessing organisations for the European Quality Award. It is now the most widely used organisational framework in Europe and it has become the basis for the majority of national and regional Quality Awards. The EFQM Excellence Model is a practical tool that can be used in a number of different ways:As a tool for Self-AssessmentAs a way to Benchmark with other organisationsAs a guide to identify areas for ImprovementAs the basis for a common Vocabulary and a way of thinkingAs a Structure for the organisation's management system The EFQM Excellence Model is a non-prescriptive framework based on 9 criteria. Five of these are 'Enablers' and four are 'Results'. The 'Enabler' criteria cover what an organisation does. The 'Results' criteria cover what an...