Graham Edge:
I believe I am here at CSC2007 to learn more about myself as a potential leader.
However, I would ask what is a leader? I believe a leader that could be many things and we cannot distinguish the role of leader.
Personally, I lead people by taking a keen interest in their lives outside work and how the projects we do as a team will affect not just their working days, but their family lives as well. If the work that I do has a negative effect on the people around me, then I no longer want to do the work.
Why are we here? Well, I have learnt that i am not on a journey to find happiness, but that happiness is the journey. This was very evident in Bunker Roys' presentation, which I believe was an inspiration to us all.
Why is India's economy growing? Simple, it is because of the greed of the western world utilising low cost countries to increase profits without a thought to their own communities. India is not doing anything wrong, but merely providing the developed countries with the service that is required, to which I applaud their vision. As an example, in the UK we no longer manufacture cars, why, because it is more economically viable to ship parts from half way across the world and assemble using robots. The effect this has had on communities such as Birmingham, Coventry and Leicester is poverty and social unrest. This sort of story does not reach the media since we only see what our government approves through the various filters that we have in place. This problem is even worse in USA in places such as Michigan and Oregon, whereby all car manufacturing now takes place in Mexico. Why, not for inclusive growth of Mexico that is for sure, but to line the pockets of the Corporate world.
I can give many examples of the effects of globalisation as it is a subject that is very close to my heart, so please just ask.
One more thing to ponder, what happens to India when the oil starts to run out and we you need to start looking at responsible sourcing? In the UK construction industry we currently utilise low cost countries such as India and China to obtain products. However, as from next year this will no longer be allowed under new legislation to reduce CO2 emissions since the carbon footprint of transporting products half way around the world as it is not seen as a responsible source. I would note that this is not currently on the agenda for USA since they are the largest polluters in the world, with India at No.4 behind China and Japan.
We should be mindful of our environment and our people when we talk about inclusive growth and development.
Good luck India, welcome to the real world.
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1 comment:
Hey Graham, I think you're a little bit harsh on us greedy corporate bastards (my words, not yours) - just as water naturally rolls down an incline, so does capital flow to its most profitable place of use.
Individuals want their hard earned savings to work hard for them, and the result is that capital is invested in areas with the best expected return (for a given level of perceived risk).
In turn, this produces a relentless drive for lower cost production, and an unfortunate result of that can indeed be that some groups of workers are no longer able to attract the capital to support their production.
I guess my point is that this is an inevitable result of the system, and not the greedy actions of some of the participants.
So isn't it the role of government to manage the business environment such that the power asymmetries that exist are moderated in order to achieve a sustainable balance between an efficient, productive business sector and desirable social outcomes ?
If governments have failed to anticipate or respond appropriately to economic change the answer shouldn't be to prevent the lower cost competitor (which is often an underdeveloped market) from utilising its comparative advantage. Surely the focus should be on enabling the higher cost workers (which is often a more developed country with greater resources) to find more profitable areas in which to work. This isn't easy, and may not be cheap, but neither was sending a man to the moon.
If floodwaters continually threaten to breach a levy, aren't we better off resettling on higher ground ?
I'm looking forward to the experience of the next 2 weeks, and maybe we'll both find some answers to this important issue.
Cheers
Andrew
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