It Ain’t Whatcha Do, It’s The Way That You Do It…
November 17, 2010
.. and that’s what gets results!
This may seem a little trite for a business sustainability and CSR blog. After all, thinking about your business’ effects beyond the simple commercial supply of product or services is the very definition of sustainability. However, a particularly pertinent example surfaced last week.
Archimedes Pharma is (according to their website) an international specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the oncology, pain, neurology, and critical care sectors. One of their products is sodium thiopental, whose Wikipedia entry states:
Sodium thiopental, better known as Sodium Pentothal (a trademark of Abbott Laboratories), thiopental, thiopentone sodium, or Trapanal (also a trademark), is a rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate general anaesthetic. … Thiopental is a core medicine in the World Health Organization’s “Essential Drugs List”, which is a list of minimum medical needs for a basic healthcare system. Read more
Li and Fung — Corporate Governance On One Page
November 16, 2010
During my online journeys I’ve visited some interesting Corporate Governance sites. I found that too often I make quick judgments and that I need to take more time to assess the attributes of a visited site.
This was put in play when I observed the Corporate Governance page of Li & Fung Ltd an export trading company that manages supply chains. My immediate reaction was somewhat negative since the design wasn’t glitzy –
Also, as indicated in this visual, I found that the topline navigation was the beginning of a very long page.
However, then I looked further and found out just how much information was available. First, just look at the menu–
- The Board
- Board Committees
- Remuneration Policy for Executive Directors
- Remuneration Policy for Non-Executive Directors
- Internal Control and Risk Management
- Code of Conduct and Business Ethics
- Market Recognition
- Directors’ and Relevant Employees’ Securities Transactions
- Directors’ and Senior Management Interests
- Directors’ Responsibility for Accounts and Auditor’s Responsibility
- Compliance with the Code on Corporate Governance Practices
- Investor Relations and Communications
- Shareholders’ Rights
- Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability
- Corporate Communications
- People and Community
- Information Technology
This is one of the most comprehensive list of Corporate Governance topics I have seen. It is a good indicator of the company’s transparency. Some observations…
An effective use of visuals to explain Board composition, Risk Management and Board meetings
An outline of internal communications
Senior executives also travel frequently to different country offices to reinforce staff commitment to Li & Fung’s business culture and the Group’s established corporate initiatives. Under the supervision of our Group Chief Compliance Officer, members of the Corporate Compliance Group conduct regular interactive forums with staff members in Hong Kong and overseas to ensure that good corporate governance and company practices are reinforced and embedded in the Group’s operations.
Commitment to Ethics
The Group’s reputation capital is built on its long-established standards of ethics in conducting business. Guidelines of the Group’s core business ethical practices as endorsed by the Board are set out in the Company’s Code of Conduct and Business Ethics for all Directors and staff. All the newly-joined staff are briefed and requested to acknowledge the understanding of the Code. For ease of reference and as a constant reminder, a copy of the latest guidelines is posted in the Company’s internal electronic portal for reference by all staff.
A visual outlining awards won in various categories such as Corporate Governance, Best Managed and Top Companies
All of Corporate Governance on one page, yes, but a page packed with information depicting corporate transparency.
Should Your Branded Content Have a Fee?
November 16, 2010
The publishing industry has been struggling to figure out how to stay afloat since print advertisers have migrated en masse over the past several years to the online space. Online advertising dollars are the source of the money needed to keep online publications running and throughout the past decade, most online publishers (including media giants) have moved from paid subscription models where content is only offered behind a paywall to a freely available model in an attempt to boost page views and advertisers’ investments.
Interestingly, a couple of publications have been experimenting with a return to the paywall model they abandoned years ago. The Times of London and the Sunday Times are examples of such a publication.
According to a report from Nielsen, The Times websites attracted over 3.09 million U.K. visitors each month during the second quarter of 2010 when all content was available for free. A paywall was put in place at the beginning of the third quarter of 2010. During that period, paywall visitors (which includes people who are using a free trial, print subscribers who automatically get free online access, and people who paid specifically to access the online content behind the paywall) amounted to just 362,000 visitors per month, but overall traffic to The Times websites dropped to just 1.78 million (which includes the paywall visitors).
That means the number of visitors to The Times websites nearly dropped in half after the paywall was put in place. Furthermore, after the paywall was put in place, just 20% of visitors accessed the information behind that paywall.
The Times actually views these results positively saying that the paywall customers are statistically more affluent, more targeted, and more engaged (3rd quarter results showed a 42% increase in page views per person –17– compared to 2nd quarter results — 12). For The Times the paywall audience can drive a premium rate from advertisers who want to connect with those consumers. Top it off with a subscription fee that many of those paywall customers are paying, and The Times is optimistic about how charging consumers a fee to access some or all of a site’s content will affect their business in the long-term.
Where do you stand on the free content vs. paid subscription content debate? Branded content is a bit different since it’s usually a marketing tool, but what about premium branded content? Where do you think that fits in? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Oh No, Not MORE Ethical Business!
November 15, 2010
Earlier this week, I forget why, I was wandering around the internet looking for something (as you do) when my eye lighted upon an editorial in The Progress Report.
I’d never come across the Progress Report before so I had a good look round. “Interesting”, as Sir Humphrey Appleby might say.
The editorial focussed upon ethical businesses and on one proposal in particular: “On being Ethically Certified”. I have to say, I read it, groaned, held my head in my hands, and (as techno-gunslingers might say) prepared to blog.
Corporate Eye Summary November 13, 2010
November 13, 2010
- Facebook Dominates Display Advertising Impressions
In a new report from comScore, data for the third quarter of 2010 shows that Facebook serves twice as many display ad impressions to the U.S. Internet audience as the next closest display ad publisher, Yahoo! sites.
These statistics are quite different from first quarter 2010 data, which showed Facebook with just a 16.1% share of [...]
- The Importance of Internal Brand Advocates
One of the concepts I teach in my books and at speaking engagements when I’m asked to talk about branding is the importance of creating internal brand advocates and giving them the freedom to talk about the brand they love and believe in. Your employees are your most powerful brand advocates. If they don’t believe [...]
- Mandatory sustainability measures: a digest
Like spring follows autumn or cats pounce on mice (even under the snow!), now seems to be the season for people to discuss mandatory supra-national reporting standards. Without going into too much detail, here is a selection of last week’s activity for you to peruse at your leisure.
EU may legislate on corporate, social and environmental [...]
- Economies of Scale: Small Business Resources for Big Business Ideas
I usually make time to watch MSNBC’s early morning weekend show Your Business. And just about every week, I see something interesting and think “I should blog about that”—but then I think . . . small biz/SOHO/entrepreneurial ideas aren’t very relevant for a corporate audience.
Now that I’ve turned it over in my mind several times, [...]
- Corporate Eye Summary November 6, 2010
Keeping Yahoo! Brand Value Alive
I read an interesting article about Yahoo! last week on BrandWeek that asked various business experts to weigh in on whether or not new leadership is the band-aid needed to bring the company back to its former position of strength. The responses were all fairly similar and match my own feelings [...]
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