Neil Blakesly is a long time colleague and VP of Marketing at BT Global Services. He was also an early supporter of my foray into social media three years ago – not something all VP’s of Marketing are comfortable with even now! Neil recently recorded a short video interview for Shama Kabani for her Dallas TV spot “Socially Sound with Shama.”. I spoke to him over the phone afterwards and asked him to expand on his thoughts on CSR from a marketer’s perspective for this guest post.
Well to be honest, Kevin, I could have spoken on the interview for another 20 minutes. I was torn between whether to list more of our US community investment initiatives like our digital inclusion partnership with… Read the Full Post
ICT services impact our every day lives from how we work, to how we travel to how we make purchasing decisions for our daily needs. In this video series, I examine all of these elements from inside executive offices, to transportation systems and even teleworking in my own home.
In the 5th episode of this video series, I focus on the sustainable shopper. I joined Harriet Hentges, VP Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at Ahold USA Inc., (owner of Giant), at a local Giant supermarket in Bethesda MD, to explore the potential for applications to help a shopper with a product decision at the point of purchase.
A two page article starting on the front cover of the main section of Sunday’s New York Times addresses why the US lost out on the assembly work for Apple’s iPhone. The article raises some important questions about corporate responsibility, starting with the implied responsibility of a company to create jobs in its home country. In responding to the jobs going to China, Betsey Stevenson, the chief economist at the US Labor Department until last September is quoted as saying
“Companies once felt an obligation to support American workers, even when it wasn’t the best financial choice. That’s disappeared. Profits and efficiency have trumped generosity”
I disagree. I would argue that not only is it in the best profit… Read the Full Post
I have thought long and hard about my role and how best to characterize it. When I started in the field I made my mind up very quickly that I would not make much progress if I considered myself as having been appointed to police the activities of employees. Policing might be a very valid approach for someone in a compliance role, but in a role beyond compliance, people would simply stay below my radar screen.
As I have written before on employee engagement, I see my role as to release enthusiasm, generate momentum and then harness people’s passion and energy – release rather than police. I need people to want to check in with me and hear what I have to… Read the Full Post

To finish this short series I was looking for an alternative perspective on IR. I met Stathis Gould in New York at the CR Commit Forum 2011. Stathis works at the International Federation of Accountants on supporting professional accountants working in business, and is passionate about corporate responsibility. He has also been pulling together the IFAC Accountants in Business response to the IIRC discussion paper available here. I enjoyed hearing his views from an managerial accountants’ perspective and we have met since to discuss integrated reporting from our different vantage points. He kindly agreed to contribute his perspective in a blog post.
The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has established prominence quickly following its formation in 2010, and… Read the Full Post