Thursday 30 December 2010

"Crisis as an opportunity": A speech of hope at the Graduation of the Nottingham Trend University


That was the theme of the speech of Mr. Costas Kataras, key-note speaker at the Graduation 2010 ceremony of the Nottingham Trend University, at the Goulandris Center in Athens,18/06/2010. Mr. Kataras suggested that although we are now living in turbulent times, a new set of opportunities emerge which will force the new graduates to develop new strategies for personal development and advancement that, finally, will lead to a prosperous carrier. A carrier beyond borders and with a cosmopolitan touch , a long tradition and competitive advantage of great business figures in the country. Hippocrates from the ancient times was suggesting that crisis is a prerequisite for the cure and life. In some other languages, the word crisis is the same as the word for opportunity. Of course, both the above ideas involve some element of danger or risk, that graduates must be prepare to embrace. Present at the ceremony were guests, graduates, diplomates and academics, including the Vice-Chancellor of the Nottingham Trend University, Prof Neil T. Gorman.

Friday 10 December 2010

Action Plan for Corporate Social Responsibility, by the Danish Government


The action plan aims at promoting CSR and helping Danish businesses reap more benefits from being at the global vanguard of CSR. At the same time, the plan aims at strengthening the efforts to ensure that Denmark and Danish businesses are generally associated with responsible growth. The Government has a focus on business-driven CSR and internationally recognized principles - the UN Global Compact and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).
The action plan contains a total of 30 initiatives in four key areas. With such initiatives ( from 2008 but still so refreshing ), there is no wonder why the Danish corporations excelle in the world markets. You can find the Action Plan for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) here.

Wednesday 8 December 2010

The Scandinavian Paradox: Scandinavian countries lead also in the new BCNF well-being index

An interesting study for better measuring people’s well-being: the BCFN Index from Barilla Center. The BCFN Index takes as its premise that a country’s wellbeing depends on many different variables that cannot solely be attributed to economic aspects. Hence, GDP, which for years has been deemed a partial indicator in portraying the state of economic growth and wealth of a country and its citizens, is no longer sufficient because it does not contemplate a number of elements that contribute to the social wellbeing of people. Hence, the BCFN Index introduces a series of new factors: dietary choices and habits, lifestyle, pathology rates, educational level, access to technology, level of political participation, and welfare system. The rankings, determined on the basis of the BCFN Index parameters, is led by Sweden with 7.23 points (on a 10-point scale), followed by Denmark with 6.88. Japan is in third place with 6.61 points, followed by a trio with similar scores: France (5.90), UK (5.81), and Germany (5.57). Italy is seventh with 4.85 points, just ahead of Spain (4.51). The United States (3.88 points) are in second-to-last place, with only Greece behind them (last with 3.29 points). The complete version of the BCFN Index report is here, while the related press release here.