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Naked Men in Locker Rooms and Why I Think SMART Objectives Can Undermine Sustainable Behavior

kevin moss — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:14:38 -0400

SMART Objectives are a
popular management tool in business and have been for some time now. If you are
not familiar with the concept, SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Realistic and Timebound. Typically, SMART objectives are metrics
cascaded through an organization that set objectives for individual employees.
They are used to manage performance and contribute towards determining pay and
bonus.

IT Going Green – a Comparison of Corporate and Personal Attitudes and Actions

kevin moss — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:42:25 -0400

This is my second post on the results of a survey of the
views of IT professionals on Green IT that BT conducted in June 2009.

I see a strong indication from our survey respondents that
companies that take a strong position on climate change actions and policy are
able to influence the views of their employees in the same direction.

The role of Metrics and ROI in Corporate Responsibility

kevin moss — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:48:21 -0400

“Metrics,
metrics and more metrics. In many ways metrics drive the success of
business. Multiple variables can be condensed to the common denominator
of dollars and cents, pounds and pence. Many business failures could
have been avoided for want of a business case.

Should We Pick Our Customers?

kevin moss — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:53:28 -0400

I have been thinking for some time about
companies including sustainability credentials in picking who they want as
their customers.

I know, I know, readers who are
sustainability practitioners are thinking now that they would get laughed out
of town (or the office) if they went out to the sales force and told them not
to do business with certain companies. But bear with me on this.

Solar Installation - how long does it take?

kevin moss — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:56:21 -0400

I am often asked how long it took to build our solar installation in El Segundo

The
installation has approaching 3000 modules, a combination of a raised
tracking system over the parking lot and fixed panels on the roof. It
will produce just short of a 1 M KW hours of clean electricity per year.

The Atlantic Century: Benchmarking EU & U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness

Robert Atkinson — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:47:57 -0400

Five countries—Singapore, Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark, and South Korea—outperform the United States in international competitiveness and innovation, according to The Atlantic Century: Benchmarking EU & U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness released on February 24th by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and the European-American Business Council (EABC).

The Four Dimensions of Sustainability

kevin moss — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:41:26 -0500

Reducing impact on climate change is a challenge many
corporations are trying to tackle. Many organizations are up for the
challenge but many are unsure of where to begin among the myriad of
activities on the table.

The Four Dimensions of Sustainability

kevin moss — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:41:16 -0500

How far is too far?

kevin moss — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:08:07 -0500

I’ve been thinking a lot about legal issues and the impact on CSR. As I’ve written my past two posts, CSR Debate and Legal Doesn’t Equal Sustainable, there has been yet another issue that has come to mind.

It’s the Digital Economy, Stupid

Robert Atkinson — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:29:52 -0500

While a variety of reasons exist for why President Clinton defeated President Bush, Sr.

Amar Bhidé's Book on Venturesome Consumption Gets It Half Right

Robert Atkinson — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:06:37 -0500

This October, Columbia Business School Professor Amar Bhidé published a new book called The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World. Bhidé’s core thesis is that technologies developed overseas (even if they mean a loss of domestic jobs) can enhance American prosperity. This argument is based on his view that there is a general misunderstanding of how innovation contributes to economic growth, specifically that too much attention is paid to upst

2008 State New Economy Index Released by ITIF and the Kauffman Foundation

Robert Atkinson — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:51:55 -0500

Five states—Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey—are leading the United States’ transformation into a global, entrepreneurial and knowledge- and innovation-based New Economy, according to The 2008 State New Economy Index, released this week by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).

Collaboration and Competition in the Development of Renewable Energy

kevin moss — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:36:18 -0500

I have just returned from a meeting for the World Resources Institute Green Power Market Development Group that BT hosted at our headquarters in El Segundo, CA.

Digital Quality of Life

Robert Atkinson — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:31:48 -0500

(guest blogged by Daniel Castro)

Welcome to Washington Watch - A New Fast Company Blog on Innovation and IT Policy

Robert Atkinson — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:41:27 -0400

Global Super Sector Leader

kevin moss — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:46:12 -0400

The 2008 results of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index came out on September 6th. BT is the Global Super Sector Leader for the Telecommunications sector of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For eight years running. And it is a grand sounding title if ever I heard one, per the supporting commentary on BT from the DJSI team.

Avoided Emissions are Just Fat-Free Equivalents

kevin moss — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:37:45 -0400

I am always suspicious of companies that quote their "emissions avoided" as the primary measure of their environmental achievements, i.e., "If we hadn’t done this or that then our emissions would have been so much worse."

As supplementary information to reduced emissions, avoided emissions can be a valuable measure to help employees, customers and other stakeholders understand the relative contribution of energy reduction activities.

Africa Technology and Investment Digest 6

Jon Gos — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:30:34 -0400

Subscribe to Appfrica via E-mail

Google Invests in Kenya’s Mobile Planet
This week Google made the announcement that it is making a minority stake investment into Kenyan mobile operating company Mobile Planet…