The six drivers, according to the author, are about fuel, population and poverty, climate, food and water, world law, and war. Multinational corporations may not have the power and resources to solve all these issues, but they can introduce ‘sustainable manufacture’ that is required for necessary change, argues Mason.

But will they cooperate? “On present showing, not much, other than some elaborate public relations exercise,” he rues. “The world power groupings of which they are such a significant part seem more inclined to push their own short-term interests, to favour ‘islands’ of prosperity, rather than engage the needs of humanity as a whole.”

Declaring that large industry in its present state is inefficient, and that the world is awash with overproduction, Mason cites the example of carmakers operating well under capacity. “An unkind, but perhaps just, assessment could be that many multinationals are keeping afloat by having things made cheaply in the developing world and selling them with very high mark-ups in their home markets.”

A telling case is that an Indonesian worker is paid 40 pence to make a pair of fashionable sports shoes that sell in London for £100. While such tales of inhuman exploitation by big companies abound, there are a few reassuring instances of contrast too.

Speaks of hope.

Make ideas work

Tactics: The Art and Science of Success Edward de Bono

Probably the worst possible route to being a successful person is to sit around and wait for the brilliant creative idea that is going to make your fortune, says Edward de Bono in Tactics: The Art and Science of Success (www.profilebooks.com). "We all have an idea of what the term means but a precise definition is impossible," the author declares in the intro. "There is exactly the same trouble with the word `creativity'."

It is attractive to hope that a great idea will come by and make all your fortune, but in practice it does not happen that way, explains de Bono. "There will always be stories of how asimple person had a marvellous idea and made a fortune. It can happen and it does happen. It is not, however, the most reliable route. Also, you may never have this wonderful idea in the first place."

Instead, try making ideas work, he advises. "There are people who have a relatively simple idea which is not really new, but they apply it in thorough a manner that it leads to success. There are people who enter a field without any new concept, but their strategy is so sound and so well executed that they succeed."

Energising inputs.

D. Murali

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com

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