Africa's infrastructure: A Time for Transformation

Watching this 5 minute video, I learned, for example, this:

- Only 5% of Africa’s farmland is irrigated.
- Only 25% of all Africans have access to electricity.
- 30 African countries experience chronic power shortages.
- High transportation costs increase prices of goods by 75%.
- African infrastructure services are twice as expensive as elsewhere.

recovery.gov to be launched

In this interesting White House Blog posting, I read the remarks of the President of the United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama, on the economy after meeting with business leaders on January 28th, 2009. I noticed, for example, this part:

"We will launch a sweeping effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov - because I firmly believe what Justice Louis Brandeis once said, that sunlight is the best disinfectant, and I know that restoring transparency is not only the surest way to achieve results, but also to earn back the trust in government without which we cannot deliver the changes the American people sent us here to make."

What does the government of the country, in which you are a citizen, do to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending?

We increasingly need to stop thinking about companies as having fixed national identities

Firms are typically linked to the nation in which they began and are considered to have fixed national identities. However, firms continue to maximize the opportunities created by global markets – including reallocating functions across nations. A firm's legal home, its financial home and its homes for managerial talent no longer need to be colocated and, consequently, the idea of firms as national actors rooted in their home countries is rapidly becoming outdated. In other words, we increasingly need to stop thinking about a company as, for example, a Danish company, a Swiss company, a Japanese company, an American company, a British company, an Indian company etc. Read more in this interesting working paper by Mr. Mihir A. Desai.

A question for you:
What do you and your colleagues do to get better at working across various borders, for example across company functions and national borders?

The Vatican on YouTube

Did you know that the Vatican has a channel on YouTube? Have a look at it by clicking here. On the channel, I came across this 1 minute video published on January 25, 2008. In the video, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI mentions, for example, this:

"Undoubtedly, wise use of communications technology enables communities to be formed in ways that promote the search for the true, the good and the beautiful, transcending geographical boundaries and ethnic divisions."

Strong primary education progress in the Republic of Tanzania

On page 63 of this UNESCO report, I read about strong primary education progress in the Republic of Tanzania. Between 1999 and 2006 the number of out-of-school children of primary school age in the United Republic of Tanzania decreased dramatically - from over 3 million to under 150,000. A strong partnership of government, donors and civil society has been instrumental in the rapid improvement in access to and completion of primary education there. In 2001, the government abolished primary school fees and launched a programme to simultaneously improve access and quality at the primary level. The main components of the programme were:

1. Increased spending on education - with a focus on primary education
Public education spending rose from 3% of GDP in 2000 to 4.5% in 2005.

2. School construction and rehabilitation through school development grants
Between 2002 and 2004 some 30,000 new classrooms were built.

3. Introduction of double shifts
Splitting shifts made it possible to accommodate the large, rapid enrolment increases after fee abolition.

4. Recruitment of teachers and upgrading of current staff
An additional 32,000 primary school teachers were recruited between 2002 and 2004.

5. Introduction of school capitation grants
At school level, grants have paid for teaching and learning materials, including textbooks, to help defray school operating expenses and to support teachers’ professional development.

Outlook for the global economy - Mr. Peter Löscher, Siemens

I came across the following 4½ minute video through the World Economic Forum YouTube channel. Learn more about the World Economic Forum by clicking here.

Inputs on energy innovation

Watching this interesting 33 minute video, that I came across at google.org, I learned, for example, these 4 things:

1. Reduce the weight of cars.
2. Rebuild the electric grid to be more flexible and decentralized.
3. Make it possible for people to get real time information over the Internet about the energy use they use at home.
4. At your home, replace old products, that use a lot of energy, with newer products that use less energy. For example, have a look at how much energy your refrigerator uses.

New ways of working. Example: Semco

Watching this 14 minute video about Semco, I learned, for example these 5 things:

1. Let people decide as many things as possible themselves.
2. Encourage people to change work station often.
3. Let the staff have access to all the company’s financial data.
4. Let each employee have a share of the company’s profits.
5. Let employees suggest their own salaries.

New record in number of spin-offs from ETH Zurich

In this ETH Life article, I read that the number of spin-offs founded by ETH Zurich is increasing. A new record was set in 2008, as 23 spin-offs were established. When compared to start-ups in Switzerland, ETH Zurich spin-offs created more jobs. Company clusters - common among technology companies - may be the reason. More than seven new jobs were created by every ETH Zurich spin-off, resulting in a total of 918 positions - nearly twice what the average Swiss start-up creates. Read more about that here.

For larger view, click on images.



Image source



Image source

Differences between countries regarding early childhood education and care

In this UNICEF report about early childhood education and care in economically advanced countries, I read that neuroscientific research demonstrates that loving, stable, secure, and stimulating relationships with caregivers in the earliest months and years of life are critical for every aspect of a child’s development. Reading the report, I also noticed that there are large differences between OECD countries regarding public expenditure on child care and pre-school education services.

In the following 5 countries, more than 1% of GDP is spent on child care and pre-school education
- Iceland.
- Denmark.
- Finland.
- Sweden.
- France.

In the following 4 countries, 0.3% of GDP or less is spent on child care and pre-school education
- Japan.
- Switzerland.
- Ireland.
- Republic of Korea.

What a wonderful world

I just felt like reminding you about our wonderful world.

Some ways to fight global poverty

When you read this BusinessWeek article, make sure you also watch the 9 minute video featuring Mr. Paul Polak, co-founder of International Development Enterprises (IDE). Reading the article, I noticed, for example, that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports IDE.

Another initiative that works on fighting global poverty is www.myc4.com. In fact, they want to end poverty by 2015. You can get involved by investing 5 Euros. Join MyC4 yourself by clicking here

A discussion about energy

Watching this 80 minute video in which, for example Mr. Eric Schmidt and Mr. John Doerr participate, I learned a number of things. Here are some examples:

- There is 6,000 times more solar energy than humans use.
- I learned about an opportunity to print inexpensive solar cells with an ink-jet printer. Yes, that was an eye-opener to me as well. Great idea!
- The interest of students to work with energy topics has increased considerably. And they can’t wait to change things.
- Unemployed people in the construction industry could insulate homes and buildings starting right now. Every day wasted is a day lost.
- The largest single trend on the planet is urbanization. We’re going to go from 2 Billion people living in cities to 4 Billion people living in cities over the next 40 years.

A talk about about energy

Watching this 18 minute video, I learned, for example, that labor productivity in agriculture increased 7 times between 1950 and 2000, whereas labor productivity in the rest of the economy increased merely 2.5 times in the same period.

Are you giving and getting enough feedback to / from the people you work with?

Via this blog posting, I came across this white paper about the changing nature of leadership.

I learned that approaches focusing on flexibility, collaboration, crossing boundaries and collective leadership are expected to become a high priority. The job of today’s leader is to create space for other people – a space in which people can generate new and different ideas; a space where seemingly disparate departments and people in the organization come together and have a meaningful conversation; a space in which people can be more effective, more agile, and more prepared to respond to complex challenges.

Reading the white paper, I also learned that each population’s leadership approach must be developed based on economic, political, and geographic needs. Good leadership is perceived differently across the world.

How will changes in the way education is done affect the culture of the company you work for?

Reading the predictions for 2009 in this eLearn magazine article, which I came across through this blog posting by Jane Hart, I noticed not least what Mr. Saul Carliner, Mr. Brent Schlenker, and Mr. Matt Bovell said:

“As organizations try to stretch their learning budgets in hard times, e-learning will become an attractive option. For some organizations, a basic transfer of content from classroom to online will suffice. For others who are concerned that students are actually learning, experimentation with creative approaches to e-learning might occur. In addition, organizations will use the bad economy to assess the costs and benefits of their enterprise technology, and might make changes if they feel costs exceed benefits."

"2009 will be "The Year of Implementing 2.0." Previous years have been spent getting our industry to see new Web technologies as having powerful learning applications. Early adopters have experimented with mobile, gaming, wikis, social networks, and others, and they have paved the way for others to follow. My advice to the e-learning community this year is to pay very close attention to the culture in which you are implementing. Ignoring the impact on culture will be the Achilles' heel of e-learning implementations in 2009."

"There are three reasons why e-learning will continue to grow in 2009: (1) The economy is tanking. More and more companies will be attempting to achieve cost savings using e-learning technologies. (2) As students attempt to make better use of their time and money, they will continue to avail themselves of e-learning opportunities. (3) As more and more companies try to establish a reputation for being eco-friendly, they will use e-learning as part of their green initiatives."

A question for you:
How do you think changes in way education is done will affect the culture of the company you work for?

How are embassies of the country you come from designed?

Watching this 5½ minute video, I was very positively surprised to see how stones, wood, large windows, light, and water were used to make the Norwegian embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal a really beautiful, open, and friendly place that, in more ways, build bridges between Norway and Nepal. In this Nepali times article, I read that the building is also energy efficient and environment-friendly, with a rainwater harvesting system and solar heating panels.

How are the embassies around the world of the country you come from designed?



Sources of photos in this blog posting

Movie about a child in Sierra Leone, West Africa

This 7 minute movie was made by a group of Grade 4 students in Bradford, Ontario, Canada. It is about a former child soldier, a boy named Sidibay, from Sierra Leone, West Africa.

How many management levels does the company you work for need?

In this 5 minute video, Mr. Gary Hamel challenges - in various ways - the way management is being done today in many companies. Among other things, Mr. Hamel says: "Management is now seriously out of date!"

What do you do at the company, you work for, to improve the way management is being done?

Do you honour and celebrate people who live the values of the company?

Listening to Mr. Herb Kelleher speak during the 5 minutes, that this video lasts, I learned, not least, that people who - inside or outside the work environment - live the values of the company / companies, they work for, should constantly be honoured and celebrated. Because they are the role models. Herb Kelleher is co-founder of Southwest Airlines.

To which degree do you honour and celebrate people who live the values of the company you work for?

What promotes economic growth better: Small or large differences in salaries?

I’m born and have grown up in Denmark. That is probably one of the important reasons why I tend to be in favour of companies where the difference between what the highest paid person in a company is paid and what the lowest paid person in the same company is paid is relatively modest.

In, for example, the United States of America, I now and then read about companies where the difference between what the highest paid person in a company is paid and what the lowest paid person in the same company is paid is very large, for example a difference in excess of factor 1:50. In this regard, I stumpled upon this interesting posting of December 17th, 2008 from Mr. Paul Krugman to which - up until now - more than 350 comments have been written.

What do you think promotes economic growth better: Companies where the differences between the highest and the lowest salaries are very large, let’s say above factor 1:50, or companies where the differences between the highest and the lowest salaries are relatively modest? Please explain why.

Mr. Hans-Rudolf Merz, President of the Swiss Confederation: Bring in your good ideas

In the new year speech of Mr. Hans-Rudolf Merz, President of the Swiss Conderation, I noticed not least this:

"Ganz besondere Neujahrswünsche richte ich an unsere Jugend. Vor allem Lernende und Studierende fordere ich auf: Nutzen Sie jetzt Ihre Chance. Bringen Sie Ihre noch unverbrauchten Kräfte und Ihre guten Ideen ein - zum Wohl von Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft."

Source

Do yourself a favour: Stay curious!

Happy New Year

The Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, a date between January 21 and February 20. The Chinese New Year 2009 is the year of the ox. It starts on January 26th, 2009 and ends on February 14th, 2010.

The people of India use around 30 calendars. As a result of this diversity, New Year’s Day is, in India, celebrated on different days throughout the year. I read that here and here. In Gujarat in Western India, for example, New Year is celebrated in the end of October, on the day that coincides with Diwali. Diwali is an important Hindu festival, but in Gujarat it is celebrated as New Year’s Day as well. People light little oil lamps on and around their houses to welcome Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. The photo below shows students at a school in Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India.


Photo source

Where I live, 2009 starts today, January 1. For those of you who also start the new year today I wish a happy new year.