Tag Archives: competitiveness
Is your company about to lose the platform it’s built on?
In the beginning, tribes of people would supply themselves by following their food. Either fully or partially nomadic, they still went to the supplies, hunting and gathering and forming tools as they went along. Then they started to organise food through farming and animal husbandry, and over time established craftsmen to produce tools and goods, [...]
My product’s a Zombie!
by Caroline Rennie
You may have seen the Monty Python film “The Holy Grail” – in which plague victims are collected and piled high on a cart for removal. One is being carried over his relative’s shoulder and you can hear a cry “wait! I’m not dead yet!”.
So it is with many products that have been [...]
What energy has in common with hard drugs.
by Caroline Rennie
How do you know that your avant garde initiatives are actually mainstream?
The Mafia is muscling in as a supplier…
According to the Financial Times, renewable energy, particularly wind-farms, is increasingly owned and run by the Mafia – for the value of the subsidies, for the value of the renewable energy credits, and for the [...]
What McDonald’s did wrong, and Wal-Mart does better
by Caroline Rennie
McDonald’s could be doing smart, community-building work that builds brand value. But they’re not. Here’s what they’re doing – and what Wal-Mart’s doing better.
The story:
Nigel Haskel, a minimum wage, 21 year old employee, sees a man start beating a woman in the McDonald’s he works in. He intercedes on the woman’s [...]
What will happen to your costs when ecosystem costs are priced in?
by Caroline RennieLate last year the US Department of Agriculture announced they were forming a new high level office of “EcoSystem Services and Markets” to determine the cost of depleting and the value of protecting, nature’s services. What exactly does that mean?
A few years ago the UN assessed the value of the stuff nature [...]
Lobbying: a proven way to lose money?
by Caroline Rennie
The International Energy Agency estimates that coal companies ought to be spending $2 billion a year for ten years on clean coal technologies, and Credit Suisse suggests they should be spending at least $1.5 billion. Actually, coal companies are spending a fraction of that on development, and half again as much in [...]
Your customer goes sustainable – and demands you do the same. Are you ready?
by Caroline Rennie
Nestle Waters has told Plastics & Rubber Weekly that it expects its suppliers to be making demonstrable progress towards sustainability:
“We are going to be pushing more on our suppliers to figure some of this stuff out” said Kim Jeffery, President Nestle Waters.
Are you ready the day your customer tells you he “expects [...]
Sure fire labelling – that sways consumers
by Caroline Rennie
As UK retailers outdo eachother in their efforts to build consumer and political good will, they have had to develop immediate and compelling ways to help consumers do the right thing. Among other techniques they have demonstrated that labelling can not only sway consumers, but change the company as well – in [...]
Brands successfully avoid value from environmental activities
by Caroline Rennie
Most companies are wasting their environmental investment – at least as far as reputation goes: while they may be doing, and saying, a lot – the public doesn’t buy their story. Except, that is, Toyota’s.
click on picture to enlargesource: MapChange 2008
What’s going on?Let’s look at GM and Toyota. GM [...]
Weee! Stealing a march on your competitors*
by Caroline RennieHP, leading manufacturer of electronic products such as printers, computers, and the like, has implemented a take-back programme in the US with a difference: you can ship any brand’s cartridges or computer hardware back to them – and they will send you a coupon greater than the cost of shipping, towards an [...]