Stephen B. Young, Global Executive Director, The Caux Round Table

"CORRUPTION: SO WHAT, WHO CARES"
By Brian Lightowler

'The question I want to discuss here is whether ‘communities’ can play a positive role in the context of globalization. There is a need to bridge gaps between people and societies around the world. As community members, we can all contribute. How?'
Thoughts from Hein Bogaard, development economist and member of the Junior Round Table

Chris Evans, UK National Coordinator, CIB says 'Perhaps the biggest current question of all: can we trust Bush and Blair if they tell us there is no alternative to invading Iraq? Trust can be a life and death matter. Fortunately, the process is reversible'.

In a society where success is the leading value, is it strange that rules and laws are seen as obstacles rather than as guidelines on the road to esteem and respect? What is the value of rules without a solid respected and applied set of norms and values?
Reflections from Menso Fermin, Director of CIB

Procter and Gamble’s corporate tradition is ‘rooted in the principles of personal integrity and respect for the individual’, according to Andrea Cooper, a British manager in the consumer products multinational. The phrase ‘doing what’s right’ is ‘a slogan that is part of the P&G culture’, she said. The company would never knowingly condone illegal or unethical dealings anywhere in the world, she claimed, pointing out that a recent report indicated that one in six shoppers would buy or boycott products because of a brand’s or manufacturer’s reputation.

An executive from the giant American Alcoa aluminium corporation today emphasized the need for community involvement and accountability. The multinational, which has 129,000 employees in 38 countries and annual sales of $23 billion, had gone through a ‘fundamental change over the past 10 years,’ said Don Cowles who till last year was President of Alcoa’s distribution business. Cowles, from Richmond, Virginia, was speaking at the business conference ‘Globalization : from conflict to opportunity’ being held at the Initiatives of Change centre in Caux, Switzerland.

A leading Indian industrialist today claimed it was possible to be competitive in a global market ‘and still follow the path of social consciousness and maintain values’. Sarosh Ghandy, Managing Director of Telcon, a Tata Industries company which manufactures construction equipment, was speaking at the conference ‘Globalization : from conflict to opportunity’ being held, 20-24 July, at the Initiatives of Change centre in Caux, Switzerland.

Bombay businessman Suresh Vazirani today told the international business conference ‘Globalization : from conflict to opportunity’ how his company has met the challenges of globalization in the face of international competition. Transasia Biomedical, which he founded in 1980, exports diagnostic machines for blood diseases to 30 countries.

As anti-globalization protestors demonstrated in Genoa to mark the anniversary of the death there of one of their number at last year’s G7 summit, a four-day international conference on ‘Globalization - from conflict to opportunity’ was opening at the international centre of Initiatives of Change in Caux, Switzerland.