From Green Politics to Green Business
New Irish Political Party Speaking ahead of his visit to Dublin in October to launch the Carbon Disclosure Project report, Yvo de Boer, former United Nations climate-change chief, tells Ann O’Dea he is relishing his new role in the private sector. Until July of this year, Yvo de Boer was the high-profile executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the body that oversees climate change negotiations. In February this year, he announced he was leaving this most political of roles to take up a position as the advisor on climate change and sustainability with KPMG International in London. After four years in the hot seat of international…
Read MoreInnovation: the execution challenge
As he publishes his latest book, The Other Side of Innovation, Ann O’Dea caught up with leading academic Vijay Govindarajan on a recent trip to London to discuss his thoughts on managing innovation. After the success of the much-vaunted 10 Rules for Strategic Innovators, Vijay Govindarajan has teamed up with his Tuck School collaborator Chris Trimble again on a new book that deals with executing innovation within an organisation – The Other Side of Innovation – Solving the Execution Challenge. When we meet in London he has just completed a two-year stint as chief innovation consultant with General Electric (GE), where he worked closely with the iconic Jeff Immelt. He…
Read MoreNationwide UK Named One of World’s 50 Safest Banks
Update: In 2017, Nationwide UK officially closed its doors. Global Finance has published its 19th annual list of the world’s safest banks, and for the second consecutive year, Nationwide UK is included on the list. Nationwide (UK) Ireland will open its first retail branch in Dublin this Autumn. It grabs the No. 47 slot. The only other UK banks to appear are HSBC and Barclays. Unsurprisingly, no Irish banks feature. The ‘World’s 50 Safest Banks’ 2010 list was compiled by comparing the long-term credit ratings and total assets of the 500 largest banks worldwide. Ratings from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch were used to compile the list. Commenting on…
Read MoreTrichet calls for tougher sanctions for rule-breaking members
ECB President Proposes Exclusion of Rule-Breaking Eurozone Members from Political Decision-Making In what seems an ominous warning to countries like Ireland, European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet has suggested that Eurozone members that break the region’s rules on public finances should be excluded temporarily from Europe’s political decision-making. A Quantum Leap in Eurozone Governance Trichet’s remarks, made in a controversial interview with the Financial Times , advocate for a temporary suspension of voting rights as a potential consequence for countries that fail to adhere to Eurozone rules. While he has consistently opposed the notion of outright expulsion, Trichet believes exploring the suspension of political influence could be a viable option. Assessing the…
Read MoreFacebook sues teacher site for trademark infringement
Facebook is throwing the ‘book’ literally at a new community website for teachers for its use of the word ‘book’ in its title. It is claiming that the use of the word by Teachbook is riding on the success of Facebook. In other words, Facebook says Teachbook shouldn’t be using the ‘book’ suffix in its name. Teachbook is a professional community for teachers headquartered in Chicago. It appears that Facebook’s beef centres around the implication that anyone can attach the suffix ‘book’ to an online product and instantly claim it has relevance as a social networking site. In its complaint, the social network giant warns that this would dilute the…
Read MoreRadio Nova launch to create 32 jobs
The launch of Radio Nova, which has been licensed for Dublin City and the greater Dublin area and will begin broadcasting in September 2010, will result in the creation of 32 jobs – 18 full-time and 14 part-time – over the next two months. The jobs will include full-time presenters, engineers, production teams, researchers, sales and marketing and administrative staff. David Tighe, Radio Nova CEO, is set to sign the station’s contract with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) today, which concludes the licensing processes. Claiming that a gap exists in the Dublin market for something different in broadcasting, Tighe is forecasting that the station will capture 5pc market share…
Read MoreConfidence in Service Sector in Ireland is highest in EU – KPMG survey
Confidence in the future of the Service Sector in Ireland is currently the highest in the EU. That is according to the latest International Business Outlook Survey from KPMG. The most recent figures, which reflect confidence in expected performance over the next 12 months, show that sentiment regarding Irish business activity in the Service Sector is running at +47.9 – well ahead of the EU average (+33.6) and the global average (+43.9). Confidence in future activity in the Manufacturing Sector in Ireland is currently running at +45.2, broadly in line with the EU average (+44.5). Overall, the survey results suggest that expectations among the Irish business community are increasingly positive.…
Read MoreCoca-Cola pulls Dr Pepper Facebook Promo
Coca-Cola has withdrawn a Facebook promotional campaign for Dr. Pepper after complaints by parents that it targeted children with references to a porn film, according to a report on The Guardian’s website. The promotion, which was launched at the end of May, featured a ‘Status Takeover’ app, whereby supposedly embarrassing messages would appear in participants’ status boxes to be viewed by their Facebook friends. Users racked up points depending on the level of embarrassment – mildly embarrassing, embarrassing or properly embarrassing – they picked, with a prize of £1,000 for the top scorer of the week. The Guardian reports, however, that the promotion was pulled after “a parent protested after…
Read MoreSlippery slope of sales
A huge amount of money is wasted each year on failed sales-training initiatives. Dave Stein explains some of the reasons and offers some suggestions for improving the situation It’s not terribly surprising, given the general characteristics of both parties in the equation, that so much sales training results in little success. On the provision side, there is a complete lack of regulation: unlike practically every other profession in the world, there is no certification or accreditation and no minimum requirements for professional development in the sales area. There are no Government bodies overseeing either the sales profession or the people providing it with training. As a result, the barrier to…
Read MoreEurope’s Ad Industry Issues Response to Cookies Opt-in
The European advertising and media industry have described calls by data privacy regulators for opt-in by users for placing cookies on their PCs as out of step with online businesses and their consumers. In a joint response to the Article 29 Working Party “Opinion 2/2010 on online behavioural advertising”, published last week, a consortium of industry organisations, including IAB Europe, World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), European Publishers Council (EPC) and European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA), said it was “out of step with the relationships that businesses and consumers are building online and flies in the face of the reality of the internet.” “This is an overly strict interpretation of the…
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