News and Cluster Activities

Marc Avanzo shares what it felt like to represent EBBF values, live on Voice of America

Submitted by Marc Avanzo

In preparation for the interview with the international radio station, Voice of America, I sought the help of five EBBF members who gave me (via the EBBF Communications Centre) precious hints on questions that were likely to be asked on the program. When the call came through, I thought it was either a test to see if I was suitable as an interviewee, or, at best, being recorded for further editing before being broadcast later in the week. On both counts of guesswork, I failed.

At 16h01, I receive this call from a lady; she introduces herself, from VOA, and quickly asks me if I am set for the interview. I answer, yes. She goes on, asking me to tell my name for audio adjustment. I say distinctively "Marc...Avanzo". She then says: OK Mr. Avanzo, the show is going to start in 4 minutes; we'll put you on hold until then, while connecting the other participant. As I listen on the phone and hear the signature tune of the program, I realise step by step that I am going to be...live.

My heart starts bumping when I hear my name on air, then the first questions arrives, spoken very quickly. Ms Mortens, Director of the international Business Ethics Institute starts fast.She starts talking about regulation...well I try to pull the debate towards what I know best: people leadership.

The moderator keeps on asking a lot of regulatory questions. I try each time to highjack the question, giving it another answer, putting human capital at the centre of the conversation. I have to reply quickly, this is a tough game. In the middle of the interview I am finding my pace and feeli much more at ease, Ms Mortens also slows down her pace, relaxing into the interview; the tone of her voice seems more human after my jokes.

At one point I get another call on my cellphone, while I was talking...I lose the thread of my thought and cannot finish my sentence elegantly...no worries, they will put that to my limited language skills as a Frenchman...

Then the moderator asks 2 questions in a row to Ms Mortens, I would have liked to be asked those...I realise that the debate doesn't go into the direction of values, but remains at the level of regulation, control systems (the field of Ms Mortens) I decide then that for my next question, no matter what it is about, I will clearly say that we are mistaken about the whole topic: the answer lies in us and not in regulation, and that we at EBBF have another vision about the paradigm of business, that we provide training to help people live by their values, giving them the opportunity to think about the meaning they want to give to their work.
A third question comes ..to Ms Mortens, I have time to really think of what I'll say....Ms Mortens stops talking...I hold my breath.... then the moderator says "that's it for today, thank you Mr Avanzo and Ms Mortens...."

For about ten minutes I felt frustrated because I had the feeling that I hadn't been able to get the right message across, then, Eva, the Slovak AIESEC student that organised the show calls me back ten minutes later; she said that all the people in the room were finding it great. She was happy because it was a subject and a show she had prepared and it had turned out very good (despite not having tested it before). She is really happy both for herself and for my achievement.

I feel happy and sad...I explain to her that there were so many things I wanted to say, and that EBBF has a really different view on that, we believe in the responsibility of people, on their capacity to make change happen at their pace and within their area of influence. She is so interested that she keeps on talking with me on that for about half an hour. She wants to make the world change and she feels so helpless from her experience in the States. I end up giving her the names of baha'i books on management, giving her Slovak EBBF contacts, giving her the contacts of FUNDAEC in Bolivia (she is going to spend two weeks in Bolivia and wants to help people there in a positive way) and inviting her to the EBBF national conference in De Poort.

Who would have guessed two years ago, when I accepted George's invitation to go to Slovakia at an AIESEC students event, that this would lead to an interview live on one of the most widely heard global radio station...
I was proud of Eva, about the various experiences she had dared to make after my small conference in Slovakia: she had gone to Colombia for a year (inspired by my trip to Bolivia and Niger she mentionned) and got a training period as a productor assistant at VOA after that, just before coming back to Slovakia next september to start her PHD in international business. And I could feel the thirst to serve in her voice; I grasped how the few words I had given her two years ago, were still inspiring her: she said she could remember them as if it were yesterday...

You can listen to what Marc said on the program by going to the 12th of July program titled BUSINESS ETHICS on the Voice of America webpage.

Arthur - devil's advocate for CSR - A Value Service Tour

Submitted by Arthur Dahl

The day after teaching about systems approaches to sustainability for 2 1/2 full days at the University of Geneva for their Certificate course on Sustainable Development, I took the train across the Swiss countryside and up a cog railway to the alpine village of Grindelwald beyond Interlaken in the Bernese Alps. There in a youth hostel, AIESEC Switzerland had invited me to be the featured external speaker for two hours on business ethics at a weekend conference for some 50 students preparing to go on international traineeships.

The site was superb, surrounded by the Jungfrau and other peaks, with ideal weather. They asked me to speak on CSR, ethical dilemmas and sustainability, so it was wide-ranging, with informal discussion on into the night. Returning the next morning to Geneva for the canton's Sustainable Development fair, I was off two days later to London as a keynote speaker for another AIESEC-UK conference at Westminster University on value-based leadership which also drew participants from a number of European countries and as far away as Mexico.

The first day they asked me to be devil's advocate and argue against corporate social responsibility (counterbalancing two other speakers) in order to stimulate discussion. So I presented the two extreme views, that CSR was a distraction from the real purpose of business, or that it was either window dressing or sincere but inadequate to deal with the much more fundamental problems of the economic system. I was afraid of being too persuasive, but in fact I convinced them to look beyond CSR as presently practiced.

It was a good preparation for my two-hour session the next day on best case practices. I presented the results of my World Economic Forum survey of the competitive edge in environmental responsibility as an example of best practices in business thinking; my WEF case study of Taiwan as an example of government-business collaboration; and the presentation on the ethical foundations of sustainability (mostly Baha'i principles).

A good sized group requested a question and answer session with me for two hours afterwards in nearby Regents Park. In the evening they organized a scavenger hunt on ethical themes in downtown London. AIESECers are always such a capable and sincerely motivated group of young people that it is always a pleasure to be with them.

European Commission creates European Alliance for CSR

After over two years of a series of multi-stakeholder dialogues, some of which EBBF participated in, and a delay of the same length of time, the EC has issued a policy paper on Corporate Social Responsibility. This paper establishes a "European Alliance for CSR" to give a renewed impetus to efforts in this area. The paper supports renewed emphasis on education and the development of skills for dialogue with social partners (NGOs and trade unions), fostering innovation, supporting SMEs, improving the transparency of corporate governance, and sustainable development.

The April issue of both Ethical Corporation and Ethical Performance expressed concerns that while this new policy focuses on CSR as a contribution to growth and competitiveness of European companies, it abandons the multi-stakeholder approach, rejects NGO and union requests for more regulation, and reinforces the voluntary nature of CSR. Also, earlier suggestions to develop guidelines on measurement, reporting and assurance, changing the rules for public procurement, and bringing in social and eco-labels for products have apparently been dropped.

Useful link to the relevant EU webpage:

EBBF in Paris - a lively

Want to create a lively debate? Take the concept of spirituality as a competitive advantage for business leaders to France and the result is guaranteed.

You can view at this webpage the images and presentations offered during EBBF's visit which produced a lively exchange with one frequent question being asked: "how can I, in my workplace, start to make a difference and apply the values I believe in, in front of an often cynical work environment?"

EBBF member Ghislaine Prival had her own experience to offer: the way she words the job offers for new opportunities in her company and the kind of questions she asks during the interview all have values and personal attitudes before technical skills. Thanks to this strategy she manages to attract like-minded individuals with the rigth motivation. As a direct consequence of this, and her excellent business sense, her business has been consistenly growing and improving and is now expanding with new offices.

Quite a few answers to that question and to the overall purpose of business will of course be offered at this year's EBBF Annual Conference.

Ardawan, Arthur and George - an alliance for change

Submitted by Arthur Dahl

EBBF was very present at the recent AIESEC European Conference near Prague, Czech Republic, training some 200 newly elected officers of 45 national committees, or boards, of AIESEC. These young leaders gathered to deepen their knowledge of AIESEC's identity and culture, to reinforce that unique spirit that characterizes their global organization, to develop plans for the coming year, and to learn about Sustainability. Three EBBF members made a valuable contribution to this effort: Arthur Dahl, Ardawan Lalui, and George Starcher.

Arthur Dahl opened the day with a brilliant keynote address highlighting the challenges and major risks to our planet and the well-being of future generations. Arthur drew on Baha'i vision of changes necessary in human society to provide inspiration to participants and to lay the groundwork for the rest of the day's exciting programme. A standing and long ovation testified to the impact of his presentation and the solid scientific basis for his concerns and insights. Arthur then led a workshop on "Education for Sustainability" which provided a broad vision of the environment and the importance of education in values as a basis for Sustainability. He went on to lead another workshop on the "Energy Challenge for Our Generation." Drawing upon recent scientific evidence Arthur highlighted the acceleration in the depletion of our natural resources and the significant changes we will have to make in the economy and in society.

In parallel to these two workshops, George Starcher led two well-attended and interactive sessions on Corporate Responsibility. For many, this was their introduction to CR, which is one of the core themes for AIESEC action this year. His presentation addressed such questions as What is CR and the Stakeholder Concept? What motivates companies to be responsible? Is there a Business Case for CR? Are SMEs Different? What are the Future Trends in CR?

After lunch, Ardawan Lalui opened a separate section of the conference called "AIESEC University" leading a session on Values-Based Leadership. These new leaders in AIESEC were particularly attentive to the fruits of Ardawan's 20 years of experience and to his emphasis on the need to develop character and to apply values in leadership. ArdawanÕs approach to value based leadership was simple and practical, with emphasis on both character and capability development, which touched the hearts of participants.

Did this EBBF contribution really make a difference? Did it have an impact on participants? How can we evaluate its impact? EBBF's three representatives felt that the impact was indeed significant and was, perhaps, along with the recent Acuto conference for AIESEC in Italy, among the most significant efforts of EBBF towards the organisation to date. Our evaluation was based upon several indicators. Certainly the very positive and immediate direct feedback ranging from participants' standing ovation to their enthusiasm at all the workshops and their formal evaluations and feedback were all very positive. Also the conference organizers were extremely pleased. Another indication was the extent to which participants swarmed around each of the presenters during breaks, at meals, and all evening. Many asked if one or the other might be able to participate in their forthcoming national conferences. At the same time it opened up opportunities for eventual collaboration next year with some new national teams and with members from AIESEC International.