Thneedville Lives!

Look! Shell remade Thneedville from The Lorax. They call it Best Day of My Life .

(PS -- They made a sequel called On Top of the World. 5 artists. 5 energy ideas.)

Indesit Customer Disservice

What can a consumer do except let other consumers know?!

Do not by an Indesit product!

Over the New Year holiday, our refrigerator stopped cooling (just over two years old), ruining all foods in the appliance. We arranged an engineer visit for 22 Jan 2016. The engineer came and the paid invoice states: "Work done: adjusted thermostat and tested ok.... Faul Code: R3". No parts or major repair was made, i.e., he turned it on and off.

The unit stopped again prior to 6 April (we were not at the property until then and are unsure when it stopped and all food ruined again). A second visit was arranged 19 April 2016. An engineer came and did not have a part he said he needed, meaning an additional visit was needed.

That visit was scheduled for 04 May 2016. Each time this happens, I have to arrange for the engineer to enter the property through friends and neighbours. The engineer has my wife's number (on the booking reminder‏). Instead of calling that number, we got a note through the front door informing us that he had been unable to access the property. Had the engineer called the number (or looked on that back door used to enter the house as he did on 19 April), he'd have seen our neighbours number or we'd have called her, as she was standing by next door to let him in.

A chat with Kieran from Indesit confirmed that the following:

That's right, it was in the van. We just needed to arrange a new date. So simple, right?

That was supposed to be today. Despite a formal complaint, the best they could do was re-schedule another visit 19 May 2016. They did, ironically, kindly offer me "3 months of warranty free of charge and a Refrigerator Care Pack". In actuality, they sent a Washing Machine Care Pack. They also said:

Please rest assured that we do value your custom and will always aim to resolve any of your future issues as quickly and efficiently as possible.

This morning, my wife got up at 05:15 so as to catch a train and make the 09:28 – 12:28 visit slotted on the e-mail we got last night. Literally an hour before the visit, she got a call that there was no part in the engineers van, meaning that they’d have to order the part and the soonest they’d be able to return is 6 June.

I called Indesit this morning and told this story to someone who said they’d have a manager call me “in four hours”. Six hours later, I called back, told yet another operator this story – waited on hold for another 15 minutes. When he came back on, he flatly said that the only solution was to wait until 6 June since this required ordering a part.

I asked him if he considered this normal customer service, to which the poor guy said it was the best he could do.

Indeed. Buy another brand.

Coming Together (in the Right Direction)

Going back over five years, I recall my cynicism in thinking that companies making bad stuff were getting away from the impacts of their products. It's still a world of corporate green washing, but today on NPR I was pleased to seem one advocate tried to change PepsiCo. from the inside, which I support, and...look at this infomercial by Coca-Cola! They are talking about obesity and being more transparent in the contents of their product.

More than ever, I appreciate that challenge of seeing PepsiCo. as more than a one-headed monster trying to make you have as many Fritos as possible, but rather a place with many heads, some unwilling to change, but others trying to understand how you can innovate, diversify and keep business going.

I Had A Farm In Africa

Social change, for sure, but to what end? I just watched When China Met Africa, a short film with no commentary. Just images and exchanges. Very intense images.

A historic gathering of over fifty African heads of state in Beijing reverberates in Zambia where the lives of three characters unfold.

Mr Liu is one of thousands of Chinese entrepreneurs who have settled across the continent in search of new opportunities. He has just bought his fourth farm and business is booming.

In northern Zambia, Mr Li, a project manager for a multinational Chinese company, is upgrading the country's longest road. Pressure to complete the job on time intensifies when funds from the Zambian government start running out. Meanwhile, Zambia's trade minister is en route to China to secure millions of dollars of investment.

Through the intimate portrayal of these three characters, the expanding footprint of a rising global power is laid bare - pointing to a radically different future not just for Africa but also for the world.

Available until July 22, 2010.

Brother, Can You Spare (half) a Dime?

Always with a soft spot for something that pokes the inspir(red) campaign, I was pleased to find a new blog (thanks Melindochka!) While there is no "about blog" link, it appears Mr. Easterly and others at NYU are now blogging about international aid on "Aid Watch". One for the blog roll.

I didn't do my own search of Starbuck's web page for results of their (RED) efforts, but am pleased Easterly is pointing out that companies need to go a bit farther than just the marketing ploy. Anyone with more energy than I have is welcome to pass along results.

Philanthropically Speaking

The good thing about delicious tags are that you have less of a chance of forgetting something you glanced at and closed before considering further...

...for example, "The Sin in Doing Good Deeds", and op-ed by Nicholas Kristof just before the New Year holidays, that wrestles with a recent book called Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential.

I like the feature on the NYT website that gives selected reader comments. There are some good ones and they point to a lot of the issues related to social enterprise, which I find terribly interesting.

Oh, and Uncharitable has a website...no time to look now as I am late to work! I shall tag if for later...

Am I a "Desk Killer" Too?

Back on March 06, 2006, when this blog started, I started with an idea of complexity. While researching Kashagan and other really, really ridiculously interesting off shore oil platforms with questioned performance on environmental and social responsibility, I came across an organization in London called Platform, "promoting creative processes of democratic engagement to advance social and ecological justice". All good...

...and they I read a bit from their project "Desk Killer":

In post-war Germany’s attempt to come to a reckoning with the Holocaust, particularly after the trial and conviction of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 the term 'schreibtischtaeter' was coined. This can be translated as 'desk-murderer'. Strangely this term has hardly ever been used outside Germany, despite its clear relevence [sic] to much 20th century and contemporary capitalism.

This concept is at the heart of the desk killer's argument. International trade has never been less personal. The vast majority of BP's or Shell's workforce in London will never see the oil pipeline in Colombia or Nigeria that they work on daily from their desks, let alone meet the villagers intimidated, displaced or killed in order to enable those valuable pipelines to operate. This distancing creates the greatest imaginative challenge - how is it possible to link the BP head office at Finsbury Circus to Casanare? How is it possible to enable human beings in London to feel linked on a personal basis with human beings in Colombia? Or to link the people at the Shell Centre with people in Southern Nigeria?

It sounds a bit like Lev..."The main reason for the terrible cruelty between men today, apart from the absence of religion, is still the refined complexity of life which shields people from the consequences of their action."

But the reason I like Tolstoy and squirm at something like Desk Killer is that when I read Tolstoy, I see myself in the text, whereas Platform makes me think I am somehow disconnected from BP and Shell, which I don't think I am, even if I ride a bike instead of own a car. Still, the concept the "refined complexity of life" is an idea that has intrigued me for years. I hope they publish it soon.

The Footprint Chronicles

Patagonia, in a what I think is a sign of things to come, now has something called The Footprint Chronicles, which allow you to see four indicators for a selection of products: distance traveled, CO2 emissions, waste generated and energy consumption.

Obviously, there is no way to compare with similar products or really look behind the calculations, but it seems like it will only be a matter of time.

They issue their own caveat:

These examinations are partial and preliminary. Each season we'll examine a few new products. As we learn more, our examinations will gain more focus, and we’ll work to change our harmful practices with all the speed we can muster.

Very exciting and hope to see how others develop this idea.

Making Money, Making a Difference?

Thanks to the Private Sector for Development blog, I read these four cases of "sustainability" about Coca Cola, McDonalds, Proctor & Gamble and General Electric. In case you hadn't noticed, they are Making Money, Making a Difference, according to the Motley Fool.

OK, P&G and GE I can read without feeling like my feathers are too ruffled. But McDonalds and Coke? I just couldn't swallow this easily. I did have to ponder: what do we do when McDonalds works with Conservation International to decrease their un-sustainable whitefish consumption from 50,000 to 32,000 tons? I suppose we do need to praise Coke for trying to support education, improve water efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions, but shouldn't their corporate responsibility work address obesity and rotten teeth, the actual externalities of their sugar infused products?

Would you like a super size fillet-o-fish (see link for content of sandwich) and coke while you ponder that sustainability report? Too much damage was done with Super Size Me to let me buy this corporate hand washing, even if done with P&G's soap that is supporting hygiene at the Bottom of the Pyramid.

Buy (Less)

I am not opposed to the idea of donating part of the profits to help boost sales, but I haven't been a fan of (RED). There were some thoughtful comments recently on the Stanford Social Innovation Review blog. Don't miss the comments either...

What’s wrong with all of this ostensible “corporate generosity”? First, it is self-serving, further diminishing true altruism in the corporate world. We live in a society where values are threatened, and avarice and greed need to be better balanced by a sense of the greater good – the commonweal. If values erode further in the market, nonprofits and the rest of us are all in deeper trouble. Second, all of us need to understand that, in the words of Buy(Less), shopping is not a solution. We cannot consume our way to charity and to a better world. Doing good sometimes requires sacrifice, and we ought not allow ourselves to be convinced that we’ve done our part because of the color of what we use. Third, we generally don’t know how much goes to the cause and how much goes to profit for each sale or in the aggregate; there is no true transparency or accountability. What do direct and secondary benefits add up to for the corporation? Are charities being fairly compensated for those benefits? Fourth and last, we need to remember that there really is a profound difference between doing well and doing good. To the degree that we confuse the two, we substitute ourselves for the other and are diminished rather than enriched.

Check out Buy (Less).

Coffee trade and intellectual property

The value of a brand or a manufacturing license is now far more important than a product’s physical production. Also, income from creative products (such as designs, writings or inventions) is entirely due to intangible value.

So reports the Light Years IP website, which today launched a blog on its project with Ethiopian Coffee growers. The blog will give "real-time coverage as they lead a momentous training on Intellectual Property management, bringing together fine coffee stakeholders from across Ethiopia."

This case seems to need a whole econ course. If you talk to Starbucks, the seem to think they have done a lot to help coffee and Ethiopia. If you get the other sides, Starbucks is little more than a greedy corporation. Of course, the Economist warns us of the side effects of fair trade initiatives:

Starbucks also has questions about the different standards of fairness applied by the Fair Trade brand custodians in different parts of the world. It doubts even that the strategy of the Fair Trade movement, to secure farmers a premium over the market price for their beans, is the best basic approach. Starbucks prefers a code known as the CAFE practices (Coffee and Farmer Equity), which aims to help coffee farmers develop sustainable businesses through a mixture of technical support, microfinance loans, and investment in infrastructure and community development where the farmers live.

No opinion here. But I am eager to hear a bit more from the directly affected people rather than another press release from Starbucks or an NGO working on fair trade. Perhaps the Light Years IP blog will give some insight. I will also be reading through the Poor People's Knowledge, that includes a chapter by the founders of Light Years IP. This seems like an idea worth exploring.

On importance of corporate governance...

Hopefully, I keep believing that things like transparency and good practice matter, even in places where an average citizen does not have much purchasing power.

The PSD Blog had a good post on the main reason why they felt corporate governance matters in the transitioning countries of Eastern Europe and beyond.

I certainly agree, but there is a need for some sort of critical mass that allows competition - in the good sense - to lift the bar on standards and transparency.

Not sure myself if corporate governance is outside corporate responsibility.

Dropping Knowledge

Well, Dropping Knowledge seems to have something for just about everyone in its quest to further "the promotion of international understanding and the promotion of art and culture."

Due to my long-time admiration of Cornel West, I was drawn to the Table of Free Voices.

100 questions - Does our wealth depend on the third world being poor? What's after capitalism? Is corporate social responsibility possible?

112 participants - Wim Wenders, Cornel West, Bianca Jagger...mmmm, what's going on? Lot's of people from all corners of the planet, many of whom I have never heard of, but they all seem to have answers and in videos!

Professor West's answer - the video - to the question of whether corporate social responsibility is possible:

There is no doubt that corporate social responsibility is possible. It’s not only possible but it’s necessary. It’s highly desirable. We have seen, in fact, corporations make significant concession to workers over the last 150 years or so in which in fact child labor laws and which in fact healthcare and other benefits do in fact take place. It has everything to do with the power and clout, the organized pressure of working people, of trade unions in work places trying to ensure that the corporate quest for profits do not take place in such a way that that quest ignores the rights of working people so that we have, in fact, seen corporate social responsibility at work. Unfortunately in the last 30 years, workers rights have been attenuated, working workers power have been cut; and corporate social responsibility cannot be talked about without, in fact, significant worker organizations having power and pressure to ensure that there is some kind of fairness, some kind of justice in the kind of contracts made between working peoples and corporate elites. So, it’s not only possible. We have seen it in action over and over again; we’ve also seen cut backs; we’ve also seen take backs and, therefore, it’s always a dynamic situation and has so much to do with whether in fact workers organizations can be forward sustained and are strong enough to promote corporate social responsibility along with fellow citizens in small businesses and in civil society as a whole.

Mining my own business?

Mine Your Own Business will be hugely controversial as it makes us all think about the unintended consequences of blindly supporting environmentalist campaigns across the globe. It is a challenge to the green groupthink that allows westerners to deny progress to those who need it most.

Controversial indeed. For example, who would you select to play the evil environmentalist in this film?