Will this narrow the gap between the rich and the poor?

40 billionaires, led by Buffett and Gates, pledge to donate half their wealth 

U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, talking last week after the announcement that 40 of the richest people in the United States so far have agreed to join his Giving Pledge initiative, which calls on billionaires to donate at least 50 percent of their wealth to charity. Newly announced donors include New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, media moguls Barry Diller and Ted Turner, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Star Wars movie maker George Lucas, and energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, reports the Reuters news agency.

Empowering Africa

How can we get  Ghanaian economist George Ayittey ,  Dambisa Moyo, author of  Dead Aid, Patrick Awuah, liberal arts educator of future African leaders,  Dr. Iraj Abedian, founder and Chief Executive of South Africa’s Pan-African Capital Holdings Ltd., Kase Lawal, a successful Nigerian oilman, all in one room to reflect on empowering Africa?

 

Liberal Arts education for future African leaders

Patrick Awuah makes the case that a liberal arts education is critical to forming true leaders.

Patrick Awuah named amongst the 100 Most Creative People in Business 2010
Ashesi’s Patrick Awuah recognized as one of Ghana’s most respected CEOs
Ashesi University College

Augusto López-Claros on Lessons from the European Crisis

Some recent reflections from EBBF member Augusto López-Claros, who looks at what we’ve learned from the financial crisis in Europe, and what we can expect in the future.
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The latest forecasts put out by the IMF for global economic growth are cautiously encouraging. Following a 0.6 percent contraction in 2009 (more brutal in the United States, Europe and Japan, softened by rapid growth in Asia, particularly China and India) world output is expected to expand in 2010 by 4.2 percent and to continue at that pace in 2011. These forecasts assume that interest rates in the advanced economies will remain at near zero levels and that public debt levels will rise from 75 percent of GDP in 2008 to some 110 percent by 2014.

Read more…

Ethical Orientation Questionnaire

Loyola’s Marymount University’s Center for Ethics and Business has an Ethical Orientation Questionnaire. My score is J6 C3. They say there are Two Ethical Styles.

“The scores on your questionnaire show how strongly you prefer one or another of two major styles for recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas. The higher your “J” score, the more you rely on an “ethic of justice.” The higher your “C” score, the more you prefer an “ethic of care.”

Neither style is better than the other, but they are different. They may initially seem opposed to one another because they differ so much on the surface, but they’re actually complementary. In fact, as the scores on your questionnaire show, you probably already rely on each style to a greater of lesser degree. (Not that many people end up with scores of 9/0 or 0/9.) Moreover, the more you can appreciate both approaches, the better you’ll be able to resolve ethical dilemmas and to understand and communicate with people who prefer the other style.”

Rethinking Prosperity

Bahá’í International Community has just issued a document to the UN, Rethinking Prosperity: Forging Alternatives to a Culture of Consumerism where, among other things they prompt humanity to “reexamine, at the deepest levels, who we are and what our purpose is in life.”

Heartwarming story from Alexander M. Zoltai

If a business owner falls behind on their rent because of the lousy economic climate, yet creates a new business model that successfully meets the crisis, should the landlord evict them before they can recoup losses and pay the rent?

Back on the 18th of March, I posted the story of Sam Lippert and the Java Street Café, in Kettering, Ohio—Cafe owner thrives with no-pricing policy. That was in the midst of the first media blitz because of Sam’s creative commitment to taking all the prices off his menu and letting the customer determine their own fair price. Here’s the link to the live CNN interview with Sam from that post.

That seemingly crazy idea worked, very well! Sam’s sales quickly increased. Before he implemented the no-price policy, he was tracking last year’s sales dead-even. Since implementing it, his sales are 13% higher than last year. Comparing March to January and February, his sales are up 32%. And, if that’s not enough proof, a food supplier informed Sam that, due to his good example, 15 restaurants in Michigan have adopted the no-price policy…

So…

Chris MacDonald defines ethics

Chris MacDonald, Ph.D. of The Business Ethics Blog defines ethics and business ethics.

He  teaches  Philosophy, including business ethics, at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Duke University’s Kenan Institute for Ethics. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Business Ethics. He has been named one of the “100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics”, two years in a row.

“Ethics” can be defined as the critical, structured examination of how we should behave — in particular, how we should constrain the pursuit of self-interest when our actions affect others.

“Business Ethics” can be defined as the critical, structured examination of how people & institutions should behave in the world of commerce. In particular, it involves examining appropriate constraints on the pursuit of self-interest, or (for firms) profits, when the actions of individuals or firms affects others.

Management Waste – Get Lean and Eliminate It!

Larry Miller of Lawrence M. Miller & Associates has identified six forms of management waste in his blog Management Meditations. Read more about Miller’s Lean Team Management.

“The solution to these forms of waste, which is the opposite of lean management, is not only training, but coaching and feedback. They need hands on help in order to change their behavior, their habits. It is these habits that define the culture.”

How Can We Make Work More Meaningful?

How Can We Make Work  More Meaningful? Businesspeople Initiate a Global Conference Series Entitled Making It Meaningful Beginning in Rome, Italy

The European Baha’i Business Forum EBBF will host the first of a series of conferences from May 21-23 in Rome, Italy where participants will discover what is important and why and learn how to help themselves and their colleagues transform “meaningless sometimes intolerable working environments”. I will not attend this year but fully expect to next year.
http://www.makeitmeaningful.org/