Category Archives: Asia

social licence to operate

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The National Bureau of Asian Research has just made available a paper I co-authored for the Pacific Energy Summit.  Entitled:  "Social License to Operate, how to Get it and How to Keep It" the main findings included:

“Social license” generally refers to a local community’s acceptance or approval of a company’s project or
ongoing presence in an area. It is increasingly recognized by various stakeholders and communities as a
prerequisite to development. The development of social license occurs outside of formal permitting or
regulatory processes, and requires sustained investment by proponents to acquire and maintain social
capital within the context of trust-based relationships. Often intangible and informal, social license can
nevertheless be realized through a robust suite of actions centered on timely and effective communication,
meaningful dialogue, and ethical and responsible behavior. 

My co-author, Celesa Horvath, has posted about the paper here. Apologies for the spelling of "licence" – US editors.

 

shared fate

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Finally getting to a book I was supposed to have read in 1990 (assigned in a graduate course), I just completed Akio Morita's Made is Japan.  Made in japanMorita, a cofounder of SONY, offers his memories perspectives on Japan's post war economic miracle, and the birth of his company as a global electronics pioneer.  The book was published in 1986 and introduces some of the confrontations that characterized Japan / USA relations in the late 80s and 90s.  I'm actually happy to have only read this now, as it resonates more with where i am now, than the callow grad student of 1990.  In particular, the following quote stays with me:

  The most important mission for a Japanese manager is to develop a healthy relationship with his employees, to create a family-like feeling within the corporation, a feeling that employees and managers share the same fate. Those companies that are most successful in Japan are those that have managed to create a shared sense of fate among all employees, what Americans call labor and management, and the shareholders.

 A sense of shared fate and trust is critical in building a knowledge based firm that relies on attracting and retaining the best.  Wisdom from an industry giant.