I know it's a few days after ECW aired, but I thought I'd share my thoughts anyway. Mike Knox is the mean, big man that I'm sure WWE wanted Snitsky to be, but never was.
Mike Knox looks great, from his beard, to huge body. He wrestles great, and can have excellent matches with someone on the polar opposite of the spectrum, such as Evan Bourne. Looking forward to a fued between the two of them.
ECW should have put him in the battle royal on RAW, they might have gone a bit further, instead of tiny, good for nothing Chavo. That guy sucks, and i change the channel when he's on. Knox has a bright future, and I hope he climbs the ladder.
One of the best ECW shows I've seen in a while. Very entertaining from start to finish.
It was alright seeing CM Punk win the fatal 4 way, but in the main event, he was surely getting his fair share of boos.
Teddy Long as new GM? I thought he'd wind up at Raw, but, hey, good to see him here too. Love the Estrada angle too, make him earn his contract.
Matt Sydal? It's about time! This kid is probably the greatest high flyer on the planet, so it's great to finally see him on WWE tv. Look for big things from this kid. I think ECW is a good match for him. Yes he's smaller, but he can do lots of great matches with say, Chavo, CM, Morrison, and probably most anyone on that roster. Great first outing for him. Incredibly innovative, with the powerbomb into Kofi, the flying knees off the top rope, expect A LOT more where that came from!
Kofi- WOW! did you see the intensity when he went after Shelton? THAT'S what's missing from WWE lately, the sheer intensity. It seems as if these two REALLY hate each other, which makes for the best kind of matches. Great job!
Matt Hardy, always good to see him . Won a very quick match there, which is cool, he needs a squash victory to establish himself. Good stuff.
MAIN EVENT TIME. Kane rules. Did you hear that crowd? They love him. CM Punk seems to be losing some favor with the fans? Or maybe the LA lifestyle doesn't care too much about StraightEdge living....? It was a great match, and glad to see the ECW Champ, Kane get a clean win.
Miz and Morrison attacking after the match? Cool, I get it. But really, Miz's finisher on Kane, and not Morrison's? Miz sucks, and he's lucky to be paired up with the best up and coming wrestler WWE has. that's right, Morrison is INCREDIBLE! UTILIZE HIM MORE!
Well, I feel that Kennedy has been royally screwed. He was in a feature feud with William Regal, basically a new age Stone Cold Vs. Vince feud, and now they have him getting his butt kicked by a jobber? I won't even mention his name, because I don't want to give him ANY sort of credit here. But, Kennedy is so much better than this, and was on his way to the top with a great feud, and being the legitimate "people's champion", waging war with arguably the biggest heel on raw.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is concerned about how businesses align their values and behaviour with the expectations and needs of stakeholders - not just customers and investors, but also employees, suppliers, communities, regulators, special interest groups and society as a whole. CSR describes a company's commitment to be accountable to its stakeholders and open and authentic in how it discharges its duties on a daily basis be locally, nationally or internationally.
More than one-third of respondents to a recent survey conducted by communications group BT said that working for a caring and responsible employer was more important than the salary they earned. Nearly half would turn away from an employer that lacked good corporate social responsibility policies.
CSR survey highlights:
44% said they would discount an employer that had a bad reputation.
50% said that corporate social responsibility policies should be compulsory in all companies today.
1/3 said that environmental considerations should be the most important topic on the company agenda, ahead of market innovation, flexible working, staff welfare and community investment.
5% said that business has the most influence on the future of the planet, second only to governments.
Alison Garner, corporate social responsibility communications manager at BT, said: "Young professionals are increasingly looking at corporate social responsibility when considering which companies and brands they might work for. Not only is it important to have a solid corporate social responsibility policy, but it is also increasingly important for companies to communicate what they are doing, as it is an area which can undoubtedly provide competitive advantage.
For over 18 years we have driven home this message to business leaders and clients well before CSR was the vogue. Enron and WorldCom obviously changed all that. Recently the issues with phone competitions with the BBC and ITV, drug taking at the Tour De France, alleged doping in professional golf, as noted by Gary Player, last years Christmas hamper scandal and hundreds of other similar stories that we dont hear about but are nevertheless argued throughout the courts in this land suggests that trust and morality in business are relative issues and are often only tools used by companies to obtain investor credibility and competitive parity.
Businesses are corrupt because human beings can be corrupt. To be corrupt is a choice and not an automatic response to market conditions or forces. We need to be careful so as not to fall into the trap of thinking that a business is a cold, machine-like, non-human entity that is blameless for its actions. All business constitutes some form of human endeavour or control and so is shaped and influenced by human beings.
We all have the potential for good or evil but I am intrigued about how and when we choose to be one or the other. Money itself, for example, does not corrupt but the love of it does. Ambition is necessary to advance civilization but becomes corrupt when it is at the expense of others. Power is similar in nature, it depends on how the user chooses to use it. Everything needs to be balanced. Good things can be used for bad purposes just like good people can become bad. The key, however, to being a responsible human being and a responsible company is values. Values are based on our core belief(s) about ourselves, others and the larger world we live in. Values are the gatekeepers to our behaviours and if we compromise them then all is lost as we are in danger of losing all objectivity, genuineness and authenticity. We become corrupt, in essence. Corruption also breeds fear and paranoia and so as a self-protection mechanism human beings (and companies) will lie, cheat and manipulate to succeed. At least, they have this choice. Many do choose to live their lives this way.
Many organizations dont practice the values they espouse and therefore suffer the consequences of poor communication, distrust amongst staff, corruption in their pricing policies, high levels of stress, unnatural attrition and deceit in their marketing and customer relationship management endeavours. Often these organizations are so entrenched with corruption and the monetary rewards that it brings that the corruption is ostensibly institutionalised and therefore experienced by organizational members as normal. It permeates the soul of the company, unseen but felt. They cannot shift their core belief, which is to make money and make a lot of it, at all or any cost. Not surprisingly then they operate in a manner that is disingenuous. Their values are only window dressing, in other words. Then along comes the CSR bandwagon and often they are the first to jump aboard. Why? Because they can now openly legitimize their corruption by being trained as a serious CSR champion.
Now, I admit that this is a cynical view but there are many management consulting firms out there that work with companies who pay a lot of money to become CSRd but the training, education and guidance never sticks. Also, it is often middle managers who have to go through the training. Here CSR never become entrenched in the corporate culture. Most CSR training is mainly about writing paper policies anyway. In other words, CSR is just window dressing. Once the policy is in place then the spin machine begins, press releases are released, websites updated, letterhead changed, leader blog updated, multi-lingual brochure produced and ah yes, dont forget the swish launch party. However, not much internally changes. How do we know this? Well we often read about these organizations in the news. They spend million on being more sophisticated and natural in hiding their corruption and hypocrisy.
CSR is about an innate and genuine sense of caring for another. An organizational culture infused with a strong and genuine sense of community is much more likely to succeed with implementing a business wide CSR policy. Why? Simply put, they would already be living such a policy. They would just need to formalize it.
CSR is a MUST not only for a competitive advantage but also for creating an internal culture where staff are valued, open with communication, trusting and less stressed and are able to perform their given tasks more efficiently and effectively.
Today corporate brand, image and reputation, which are key to attracting investment and skilled staff, are being driven by the organizations approach to CSR. When I think of CSR I think of genuine values, trust, openness, authenticity, care for others, giving back unconditionally and so on. Are human beings capable of such qualities? Yes. Are organizations capable of such qualities? Yes, but it depends upon their ability to control the payoff from such behaviours and to suppress their natural tendency to manipulate and obfuscate the truth based on a continuous perceived threat from others.
Organizations are naturally greedy, hungry for success and highly competitive. It is their nature. They have to be in order to survive and thrive. It takes real leaders with real values whose core beliefs begin and end with CSR and have worked out a principled centred way of running their businesses in an authentic and unselfish manner. Can it be done? Yes. Should it be done? Yes. Is it done? Not always. Why? Because greed, power, control, image, status are highly enticing and addictive.
In summary, I would say that CSR for many organizations is no more than just another brand tag, another kite mark, which once achieved allows them to go back to being themselves. CSR is not what you do but who you are. Now there is a challenge.
Job hunters everywhere check inside the tin.
Norm Murray, CEO Human Technology Limited T: 44(0)1704 824 281 E. normmurray@htlorg.com W. www.htlorg.com
I understand that William Regal had to be suspended. But, he was feuding with a star rising like a rocket ship in Mr. Kennedy. But now they're going to send Kennedy back down to the minors by having him work a program with Burchill? That guy sucks, and his sister is NOT hot, or useful to me in any way. I wish they would elevate Kennedy by putting him in a spotlight feud, instead of using him to bring up a guy who will never be big. Unless he just continuously beats the **** out of Burchill in new, and amusing ways, this will be a waste of Kennedy's talents.
