A New Mindset for Corporate Sustainability

Companies are responding to global competition and economic volatility by seeking to be more responsive while lowering costs. This often involves down-sizing and out-sourcing: The very things that tend to destroy the trust of employees. At the same time, workers say they want more flexibility, yet this is often perceived by business as a threat to performance. Could there be a way to reconcile these two apparently opposing forces and transform the debate on flexible working and business performance? Workplace experts Career Innovation facilitated an 18-month ‘Agile Resourcing’ programme with some of the world's most respected employers: Boeing, BT, Marriott, Nokia, Pfizer, PwC, UBS and Oxfam. The resulting ‘Manifesto’ provides principles and examples to help create tomorrow's most agile workplaces. www.CiManifesto.com.

This paper outlines a new generation of consumers, Generation C. Generation C demands more control of the products and services they buy than any other generation The term was originally coined by trendwatching.com An extract from Generation C. “In our new world, customers co-create products and services. For example, the Procter & Gamble Connect and Develop programme now produces more than 35% of the company’s innovations (P&G has launched more than 100 new products for which some aspect of development came from outside the company).Consumers can also create their own enterprises. Sony PlayStation2’s Noiseupthesuburbs.com invites the emerging generation of DIY music pioneers, from bedroom DJs to pirate radio and independent label founders, to make use of its music-making software.

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...

  There is plenty of research evidence documenting the business benefits from high-trust business relationships. Unfortunately at times like this (2009), the knee-jerk crisis reaction of many companies is to squeeze suppliers harder rather than to combine a call for greater efficiency with a collaborative approach to finding sustainable solutions. One study documented in A Guide to Trust (by the Relationships Foundation with Ci) examined supply chain relationships in the motor industry and found dramatic benefits for those with high-trust relationships: Design and distribution ideas were shared, and purchasers handled twice the value of goods when dealing within highly trusted manufacturers. In another industry, Jim Sierck of Xerox USA estimated that the bureaucratic structure created to handle the lack of trust in their buyer/supplier relationships cost them around 7 cents in the dollar.The evidence is clear: If you want efficiency, you need to release all the available talent,...