Category: Society

Sustainability is NOT subsidy

Sarat PratapchandranLeave a comment

Credits: nasa.gov

Our planet is under lot of stress. With seven billion of us crowding every nook and corner of the earth, we’ll need to find ways to tread gently on this precious resource we share. According to Gregory Unruh, Ph.D., Director, the Lincoln Center of Ethics and Global Management at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, we are reaping the benefits of a global world built on a global economy. Globalization won’t be the same if we cannot give a better life to the next generation.

Businesses have a critical role to enhance the planet’s ability to foster  economic development. They need to figure out ways to achieve sustainable economic development that yields profits.  Sustainability is NOT subsidy, instead, if done right can lead businesses to profitability. Dr. Unruh was addressing the Thunderbird Global Business Dialogue held in Glendale, Arizona, Nov. 10-11.

Social media is about authenticity

Sarat PratapchandranLeave a comment

Brad Feld

Are we real in the online world? No, we are not. According to Brad Feld, managing director at the Foundry Group, most businesses are not authentic in the social space. “A wide number of companies view social media as a business tool and the problem is that they do stuff that’s not authentic,” he said at a panel on social media at the Thunderbird Global Business Dialogue held in Glendale, AZ on November 10-11.

We must be authentic in the social space, says Feld. Offer your expertise, share and give “what you think in your soul and people will find you.” Building domain knowledge and expertise in a field that you are passionate about is critical to excel in this space.

We are at the beginning of ” a 20-year curve,” that is radically shifting the way people interact. Social media motivates people to feed information to the “machine.”  According to Feld, “trying to resist the machine is futile.”

Spend 30 minutes every day trying to gain and share your expertise using online tools.