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Inner globalisation

Danish businesses are increasingly operating on a global labour market. This means new demands for the competency development of managers and employees. There is a need to focus not only on the "outer globalisation" but also the "inner globalisation" of the work force.

The inner drive has among other things led to the fact that social responsibility has become part of the curriculum at business schools, often driven by the students themselves who have formed their own organisations in order to promote the social focus of businesses.

One example is the American organisation Net Impact (www.netimpact.org), which was established in 1993 by a group of socially engaged business school students to network with other like-minded students who want to use business to improve the world.

Similarly, the student organisation Develop (www.develop.nu) at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) is focusing on the unutilized business potentials in developing countries, in the same way that another student organisation at CBS WELL (www.wellweb.org) promotes corporate social responsiblity.

More about this trend in my article "The inner globalisation", published by Personalechefen, no. 2, 2007. You can download the article (in Danish) here >>



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Community volunteering as a fringe benefit

Various media in both Denmark and Norway have in past months been covering the trend of corporate use of community volunteering as a means of, among other things, strengthening their recruitment and retention of employees. More about this trend in the below links (in Danish/Norwegian):

Frivilligt arbejde som frynsegode, Ledelseidag.dk, no. 3, March 2007
Frivilligt arbejde bliver et frynsegode, Lederne, no. 4, April 2007
Skandia tilbyder frivilligt arbejde som frynsegode, Berlingske Business, 20 April 2007
Virksomheder samler humanitære point, radio interview (4 min.) in P1 Morgen, 23 April 2007
Frivillig arbeid som frynsegode, Ukeavisen Ledelse, 30 April 2007
Ny vej til mere frivilligt arbejde, Jyllands-Posten, 16 May 2007
Velgørenhed i jobpakken, Fremtidens Karriere, supplement in Berlingske Tidende, May/June 2007
Solidaritet - et nytt frynsegode, Aftenposten, 10 June 2007
Gør en god gerning på arbejdet, TV2 Lorry, 15 June 2007

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The priest as social entrepreneur?

Tommy Kjær Lassen, Msc., theology and priest in a Grundtvigian congregation has written an interesting column in Strategy Lab's April newsletter. Kjær Lassen draws parallels between social entrepreneurship and priesthood.

"The Christian mesage contains an entrepreneurial spirit that can inspire and motivate businesses", writes Kjær Lassen, and mentions examples such as the many church aid organisations, the Scout movement and Salvation Army hostels. There is, argues Kjær Lassen, innovation potential in Christianity due to its three key components:

1) the dream of a better world,
2) indignation over the world's problems,
3) the creative spirit.

Tommy Kjær Lassen encourages collaboration with businesses in order for the two worlds to learn from each other. He has written a feature article on this, which will be published in the Danish national business paper Børsen at the end of June.

Read his column "Præsten som social entreprenør - relevant for morgendagens virksomhed" [The priest as social entrepreneur - relevant to tomorrow's business"] here >>

You can find the contact data for Tommy Kjær Lassen at www.taasingefrimenighed.dk

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Silent retreat in September - or yoga holiday in Lesbos in August?

Who am I? What is important to me? Where am I heading? Most of us rarely have time and space to make room for these thoughts. From 13th to 16th of September 2007 you have the chance to spend three days in silence at the beautiful Langebæk Retreat Centre. There you have will have peace and quiet to contemplate and gain clarity of values and goals.

Retreat guide is Bo Heimann, who has organised the three-day programme with a combination of guided meditations, quiet nature walks, self-enquiry and yoga. The participants do not speak together and avoid all eye contact (except in connection with specific self-enquiry exercises).

Bo Heimann has previously released the meditation cd "At være med det der er", and also offers yoga holidays in collaboration with the yoga school Yoga Living. Next yoga holiday is in August 2007 (week 32, 33 or 34).

Read more about Silent Retreat and Yoga Holidays in Lesbos at
www.boheimann.com and www.yogaliving.dk

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Business for a better world - conference in October

On the 10th - 12th of October 2007 the non-profit organisation Spiritual Business Network is hosting the international conference "Business for a better world". Spiritual Business Network is a member of UNs voluntary network Global Compact, and thereby supports its 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption in order to support a more sustainable and inclusive global economy.

The conference will be held at Rungstedgaard in Denmark and will explore the true role of business and leadership, and how the business community can contribute to the creation of a better world. Each day of the conference a specific area of business is in focus. The "open space" technique will be used to bind together all inputs and considerations from quest speakers and participants. The idea is to learn how to use this in your work place and your own life.

You can download the conference programme here >>
You can read more about Spiritual Business Network at www.spiritualbusiness.net

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Tania Ellis :: Skt. Peders Straede 24 :: 1453 Copenhagen :: Tel +45 26252295 :: te@taniaellis.dk :: www.taniaellis.dk