| | Actual Globethics.net Newsletter Globethics.net Newsletter No3 / 2012April 2012 In this issue
Better sooner than later "Time is money". Benjamin Franklin, more than 250 years ago, made this statement that losing time means losing money, resources and business opportunities. "Ethics on time saves money" is equally true. It creates long term trust, relationships and wealth. The earlier we do the necessary corrections, the lower the costs: in environmental policies, restructuring the financial markets, starting a white money strategy and overcoming the black money laundering mechanisms, overcoming corruption and bad governance, taking measures for climate justice and caring for socially weaker parts of society. The sooner we do it, the lower the costs. The costs are huge of reputation damage, of social unrest, of climate victims, of cleaning polluted air and water and of societies where corruption destroys trust and communities like cancer destroys a body. Ethics is not a noble, idealistic attitude for good times and for those who can afford it. Ethics is not a value to forget in times of economic crises and struggle for survival. On the contrary, in times of crisis we cannot afford to forget ethics. As my father in law, an entrepreneur of a small family company, used to say: "I cannot afford to buy cheap goods" (because they have to be replaced soon and finally are more expensive than good, long life quality). We cannot afford to be unethical. It is too expensive. It is economically not reasonable. Therefore: be ethical sooner rather than later. This is economic and moral rationality. Christoph Stückelberger, Executive Director and Founder, Globethics.net Sixty Five days to the Global Ethics Forum 2012From 28 to 30 June, in about sixty five days, Globethics.net will launch the third Global Ethics Forum (GEF) in Geneva, which this year will focus on the value of values as seeds for ethical transformation in politics, business, and society towards a sustainable future. GEF 2012 is aiming at providing a multistakeholder platform involving companies and their stakeholders in dialogue and actions related to ethics and sustainable development in the light of the outcomes from the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro. You will find the programme of the Forum on the Globethics.net site http://www.globethics.net/web/gef/programme1 Take advantage of low rates - register before Friday 11 May Thanks to all of you who have registered so far. Please spread the word throughout your networks and tell your friends to join us at the GEF 2012 in Geneva from 28 to 30 June. Message from the International Co-Chairs In an interview, Mr Shibulal, who studied physics at the University of Kerala and computer science at Boston University, said, “I believe corporations operate in a social environment. Every corporation derives benefits from that social environment. It can’t exist in isolation.” The company has a responsibility towards a number of players such as “clients, investors, employers, society - not in any particular order. If you want to build a sustainable corporation; if you want to operate with peace in the environment, you have to be fair to everybody.” Infosys is a global information company gaining much of its impetus from services sourced to India, proudly boasting as its slogan, “powered by intellect – driven by values”. The India-based information technology company that started in 1981 with only US$250 does not shy away from using the term “business ethics”, which some companies do not seem to like to use. Such companies opt instead for management-vested terms like “social responsibility”.
New collaborations
Conference of the Forum of Asian Theological Librarians
Globethics.net Network Partner focus – African Innovation Foundation (AIF)
The foundation establishes cooperation platforms for institutions, investors and scientists and promotes ideas to support them. One of the ways it does this is through the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) organised together with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), which took place for the first time in 2012 with an award ceremony in Addis Ababa on 26 March. The AIF also promotes transparent processes and procedures within the public sector and combats illegitimate appropriation and dissipation of resources within both the private and public domains. An example of this was a workshop organised with the support of the foundation and of the National Bank of Angola in Luanda in June 2011 on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism. Globethics.net is proud to be a partner of the AIF and enjoys the cooperation that builds on the synergies of the two organisations to enable greater access and sharing of knowledge and practice on ethics in East and West Africa. The 5th ISBEE World CongressRegister now! Early bird discount is available until 15 May 2012 The Fifth ISBEE World Congress 2012, hosted by Kozminski University will provide a forum for business and academics to grapple with some of the most pressing problems facing businesses all over the world, and the new horizons coming from business ethics research to fill a wide range of expectations concerning ethics in business and the economy. It is an important part of our contribution to the European wide initiatives on promoting ethical conduct. We would like to bring people from Western Europe, Central, and Eastern Europe including Russia, to gather together with representatives of countries from all other continents and to discuss the virtue of responsibility in the heart of Europe. Today the world’s people and their leaders face a complex and multi-faceted set of ‘responsibility questions’. As the tension between different actors increases, the negative social effects become increasingly problematic and threaten the human welfare. As the regulating power of national and international governments is limited, this challenge has generated a strong interest in responsibility of business leaders. Some firms find it increasingly important to meet the expectations of different stakeholders with respect to the company’s contribution to profit, planet and people. This interaction between companies and various stakeholders constitutes a third mechanism that supplements the shortcomings of the market mechanism and government regulation in serving the well -being of the society. Hence, our main theme is: "Tradition and new horizons: towards the virtue of responsibility". The organisers, The International Society of Business, Economics, and Ethics - ISBEE and Kozminski University are kindly inviting you to be part of this important event! Please visit the Congress website - http://isbee2012.kozminski.edu.pl/
News from the International SecretariatAn active team: activities and visits around the worldThe Globethics.net team in Geneva is excited and working hard for the upcoming Global Ethics Forum, but in the meantime we also carry forward other activities that are equally. China
Cameroon After preparatory research work with the team, our colleague Rosa Abaa-Hänseler, went to Cameroon for an exploratory encounter with the Ministry of Higher Education and the new Ministry of Youth and Civic Education to explore cooperation with the Globethics.net online library for online educational purposes. The visit also had the purpose of taking steps to develop the Globethics.net Regional Programme for Francophone Africa. Azerbaijan Globethics.net will participate at the Conference on Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development of the International Ecoenergy Academy of Azerbaijan, that is taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, this 24-25 April. The aim of the Conference is to discuss the issues related to renewable energy development including environmental, social and legislation aspects. The Globethics.net Director will give a speech on "Energy ethics for a sustainable future". Geneva, Switzerland Finally, on 3 May, the 2nd Symposium of the Theology of Work, organised by the Lutheran World Federation, will take place at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, Switzerland. The Symposium will be focusing on trust, "What does the value of TRUST mean[…]?". Globethics.net Director Christoph Stückelberger with Prof. Wantian Cui from China will contribute on "Trust in Politics", which continues Globethics.net efforts on ethics in politics (see the two publications on the topic, presented in the last newsletter).
Meeting of Globethics.net Board of FoundationOn 27 and 28 April 2012, the international Board of Foundation under its President Walter Fust will meet in Geneva. The Annual Report and Annual Accounts 2011 will be available early May here after adoption by the Board. The 2011 accounts include a total income of CHF 1 349 600 and total expenses of CHF 1 394 255.68, which show to a deficit of CHF 44 655.68. This is partly linked to the fast growth of Globethics.net participants (from 14'000 to 42'000 in 2011) and respective costs. Indonesia competition updateThe essay competition launched by Globethics.net Indonesia on the theme of business ethics and economics from an Indonesian perspective is now closed. The advisory committee met on Friday, 20 April and the finalists will be announced soon. Cash prizes are offered for the top five papers submitted. News on the winners will be posted as soon as it becomes available.
Update on the call for papers East AfricaGlobethics.net East Africa (GE-EA) is the youngest of our regional programmes and has been reaching out to potential participants in the region in creative ways. At the end of 2011, GE-EA called upon interested partners and individuals in the East African region to write papers on business ethics, inter-religious ethics or ethics and governance. Following up this call for papers, an interdisciplinary session will be held on the 7 and 8 June 2012, linking various institutions of the East Africa region. During the session the best papers submitted to the competition will be presented. These papers will be awarded and then published in the Globethics.net online library. Good luck to all the shortlisted submitters! Watch out for more news and activities from the Globethics.net East Africa regional programme. For more information you may contact nduku@globethics.net or makinda@globethics.net. |
Globethics.net continues to explore opportunities for collaboration with organizations and networks worldwide. In February 2012, following a visit to Istanbul by Teodorina Lessidrenska, the new Programme Executive Business Ethics at Globethics.net, the Turkish Ethics and Reputation Society "TEID” (
In March the World CSR Day 
The quadrennial Conference of the Forum of Asian Theological Librarians ForATL took place from 10 to 13 April in Dumaguete in the Philippines. Heads of theological libraries from ten Asian countries spent half of the conference time on the Globethics.net online library on Theology and Ecumenism 
In 2011 Globethics.net and the 
Executive Director Christoph Stueckelberger visited China early April. In Shenyang North of Beijing, the 7 million inhabitants Capital City of the Liaoning province, he met entrepreneurs of Chinese small and medium entreprises SMEs who are interested to improve their ethical standards.