Another non-environmental wonder

A spate of recent coverage highlighting systemic discrimination against women in business (Silicon Valley, pregnant women everywhere, financial services) can only be enhanced by this gem - it's hard to imagine a new male CEO taking over one of the world's largest industrial businesses being described in this way (via NY Times):

"'Mary was picked for her talent, not her gender,' Mr. Akerson [current CEO, GM] said in a conference call with reporters. But on a personal note, he said, promoting Ms. Barra to become chief executive was an emotional moment for him. 'It was almost like watching your daughter graduate from college,' he said."

Another non-environmental wonder

In the spirit of what PR firm Bell Pottinger does best - as agency of record for a long list of luminous clients including Alma al-Assad, Rebekah Brooks, the Egyptian government and BAE Systems - allow me to misquote Chairman Tim Bell (via interview in the Guardian)

"[At Bell Pottinger] We tell...lies. We work for people who want to tell their side of the story."

Gem of the day

Two cases of classic business dysfunction, illustrating the scale of the challenge surrounding data for decision-making (via the comments page of the Guardian, who knew life beyond trolls existed there?)

• Glossy reports are great for coffee tables - not as a theory of change. "At AT&T we sat down with the company’s main futures group to discuss how they were working to ensure that AT&T kept on top of important unfolding trends and used them to its advantage...We then interviewed the AT&T Vice President who was in charge of the futures group as well as other responsibilities... He looked at us rather blankly, considered for a moment what we had said, and then said words to the effect, 'oh you mean the people who do all those long reports! I can’t actually say I have time to read them because I’m spending all my time trying to figure out how we can make a profit on all the copper wiring we have strung across the country and are now taking down.'" 
• Designing tomorrow's solutions to fit into today's structures = backwards strategy. "[At Royal Dutch Shell] we sat in the New York offices of the company and had another fascinating discussion with a key executive in charge of futures analysis. He showed us an organizational chart that was absolutely stunning. The chart depicted the Shell group as being made up of 240 or so separate companies representing an incredible array of functions. It was obvious that while it was possible to create the superbly detailed organizational chart, it was impossible for anyone to understand and synthesize the activities of that many discreet actors and create a coherent strategy that incorporated their behaviors." 

Gem of the day

An inspirational view of "how HR helps the bottom line" from the MD of Centrica Energy:

"Our £1.6bn acquisition of Venture Production last year was a hostile takeover, but we treated it as a merger, so it was crucial to quickly engage and retain a large number of people who had previously thought of us as the enemy. The HR approach from reward to internal communications helped us to change that perception. We’ve retained all our key people and created a top 3 oil and gas business in the North Sea."

Charming.

Gem of the day

More jargon from the vortex that is the "sharing economy" (via BSR):

"Companies like Airbnb, Lyft, and Kickstarter are using technology and community networks to create new business models and unlock value. Gorbis...kicked off the conference by giving a name to this sea change: 'socialstructing'. As networks become a more powerful force in our economy, socialstructing is how organizations and individuals are 'creating value by aggregating micro-contributions by large networks using social tools and technologies.'"

Translation: businesses are learning that the way people traditionally have gotten by pre-capitalist globalisation - through trusted social connections, within communities - might have something to do with how value is created.

Another non-environmental wonder

More insight into the wonder that is Walmart's role in America's downward spiral of chronic unemployment, wages too low to stay out of poverty on, and a broken social safety net (via Businessweek):

"In the U.S., Wal-Mart’s lower-income customers are struggling amid persistent unemployment and higher payroll taxes. Many seem to have fled to dollar stores in search of even lower everyday prices."

A growing segment of customers that can't afford Walmart's products, and more than half of Walmart workers making less than $25,000 a year, ultimately costing taxpayers more.

The solution - higher wages - and its knock-on benefits to the wider American economy, is so obvious that even Ashton Kutcher can do the math.

Gem of the day

Brilliant illustration from artist and gem-manufacturer Ian Stevenson

Another non-environmental wonder

Outstanding example of mitigated language downplaying a serious problem - $670 million spent on consumer financial education every year vs. $17 billion spent by the industry to market financial products (via Businessweek):

"That means the majority of information consumers receive about financial products comes from a company trying to sell them something—which can make it quite a challenge for consumers to find unbiased information," CFPB Director Richard Cordray said.

Gem of the day

Status update on the International Energy Agency (via Kurt Cobb):

"If the agency were a single person, what it has released over the last year as official pronouncements would likely have a psychiatrist reaching for the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition)."

Gem of the day

Like all executives in industries tightly tied to the government, BAE Systems US CEO Linda Hudson has an uncanny ability to sidestep awkward revolving door conversations (via the WSJ):

"The lifelong Democrat [Hudson] has said she will leave BAE early next year and has been mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed Ashton Carter as deputy U.S. defense secretary when he steps down in December. The problem is she plans to remain on the board of BAE’s U.S. business for another year, ruling out a job with the company’s key customer. 'The timing is not right,' said Hudson."

Luckily there's nothing standing in the way of her alternative plan to consult on all things defense in the meantime:

"Once she retires, Ms. Hudson said she intends to set up a leadership and strategy consulting firm, take additional U.S. corporate board seats."

Something that's actually good

Revisiting John Thackara's great rejoinder to the insurance industry on why trust is not an algorithm:

"My biggest concern with Big Data is the prospect that they will give managers and policy makers a sense of being in control when such confidence is not justified...[Big Data] capture information about transactions in the formal economy where they are most easily monitored. This focus obscures most of the world’s economic activity, which is informal."

Another non-environmental wonder

In case you didn't already have enough proof that inequality in the USA has reached epic proportions (via the SSA):

32% of working Americans made less than $15,000 in 2012. Translation: a third of Americans earned less than the official poverty line.

Something that's actually good

Memo from Bill McKibben to the rest of the world (echoed by WorldChanging founder Alex Steffen):

Gem of the day

It's hard not to focus on the irony in the Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund's forthcoming decision to divest from coal assets - a $760 billion fund bankrolled by Norway's massive oil wealth, lauded for a radical move to decarbonise its investments.

Then again, for a fund that owns an average of 2.5% of every European listed company, a move is a move. In that case here's the next logical step - divest from three of the fund's top ten holdings, which are...in oil companies.

Bonus gem

In a classic move by the company, Coke gives "offsetting" a new strategic meaning (via NY Times):

"The Coca-Cola Company plans to erect 150 kiosks in 20 countries that will offer water, electricity and Internet connections; they may also sell Coke and other products."

Explanation by CEO Muhtar Kent:

"Why are we doing all of this? Because when there’s healthy communities, we have a healthy, sustainable business."

Translation: In case there's any doubt about the intention of this new business model, Coke's motivation is majority defensive. By having women in developing countries sell Coke products alongside health advice, clean water and Internet access, the business can make up for the obesity and other negative health impacts of its sodas. Now that's innovation.

Gem of the day

Tesco has a unique range of product available at everyday low prices (#googlefail):

Gem of the day

In the wake of a massive outburst of negativity towards British Gas from government, customers, media - pretty much everyone, and deservedly so - what could be a better gem than a self-serving case study from four years ago by an agency looking after the company's brand?

"British Gas was finding customer retention increasingly difficult...Carat insight showed that 88% of British Gas’ brand perceptions were driven by customer experiences rather than communications...In 2009 British Gas set out to become the first ever sponsor of British Swimming and turn around the perception of their brand."

So here's a valuable insight into the head-in-the-sand mentality of BG and its peers in the energy sector - rather than addressing the core problem with the service provided to customers, they decide to focus on brand perception. Now there's a short-lived investment.

Gem of the day

Yet another fact that proves how devastating the state of health is in the US (and why McDonald's, Coke and others need to be doing more than giving consumers a "choice" and encouraging them to burn off the calories, a legacy of obesity and malnutrition they're about to repeat in emerging markets. This insight via Nestle research, ironically):

• Nearly 25% of 19–24-month-old babies in the US consume no vegetables or fruit 
• French fries are the most common vegetable consumed by infants aged 15–18 months

Case in point.

Gem of the day

Irony in a nutshell: Major company in an industry ripe for disruption (banking) releases a report announcing another industry ripe for disruption (energy).

Given the state of its shares, Citibank would do well to listen to its own crucial piece of insight about the pace of change: "This is not a 'tomorrow' story."

Gem of the day

Jigar Shah on the water-energy nexus in India - a stark choice between power and hydration (via Gigaom):

"In India, like in the United States, the power sector is the single largest user of water – more than agriculture. Presuming that India could solve its problems and build more coal, they would run out of fresh water even faster...Water is literally killing India."