Would CSR saved the Energy giants Ofgem ruling?

On 21st March 2011 Ofgem announced its conclusion to its investigation of  the big six energy company pricing system. It conclusion were scathing claiming that all the companies were confusing their customers and rising price far quicker than lowering them  with changing wholesale prices. Ofgem has given them eight week to make changes or it will refer them to the competing commission which may lead to more problems for the companies. The question here is if these companies has practices CSR they would they have avoid these forced changes?  

These companies have clearly been behaving in a way that was against the interest of many of the stakeholder, mainly the customers, which has resulted in the regulatory authority intervening. If these companies had engaged in  CSR practices they would have know that what they were doing was not acceptable to their stakeholder or at least foster good relationships that would have protected them from this kind of scrutiny.

Instead they show a opportunity to increase their profit margins and believed that there were untouchable as they provided an essential service. They now have to make costly changes and sell off a share of the supplies to increase competition in the industry to meant the demands of Ofgem. This may cost them a lot more than the short term profit they gain.
This seems to be a warning to companies that may believe they are essential so can behave how they like that regulatory authority will step in and demand changing if they refuse to behave in a fair way. This suggest that companies should not just claim to be engage CSR practices, but start to really adopt the concept into their business practice to avoid costly regulations in the further.
Video Source from the  Press association available from  youtube
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wJUzBSxG1w 
Other sources:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Gas-And-Electricity-Firms-Accused-Of-Failing-Consumers-By-The-Regulator-Ofgem/Article/201103315956854
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12802591

The Problem with Strikes

 

Strikes are seen as legitimate form of action when communication breaks down between management and employees. However, the question is whether they are beneficial in successfully communicating grievances and achieving the desire outcome. A key to successful strike is gaining support from people not involved in the disagreement. Therefore its important that groups involved in strike action insure they communicate their cause to wider audiences before the actually strike. Some Scottish university has made the decision to take strike action on the 24th March to protest against changes in pension changes. Stirling university staff  are to join this strike, but also to fight the upcoming redundancy in the aquaculture department.

Staff Rally and views of students

The Thursdays before some staff took teaching out of the classroom and had a rally to highlight their cause and gain support. The Speaker at the rally spoke passionately about the cause demanding that the need to stand united.  Though there was clear support among the crowd the rest of university seemed to carry on as usual.

 

 

Student that will be affected by the cuts seem to be well informed about the action and in support would support the strikes. However, Student in other departments had clearly not be well informed about the strike and therefore did not see the action as legitimate.  The fact that the majority of students had not be told about this actions indicates that staff are not relaying the need inform. This shows why strikes of this sort may not gain the support need for there successes. 

Only time will tell whether this strike will help the cause in the long run, but clearly more need to be done to ensure the the whole student body is on board.

Video Edited from footage taken on the 17th March 2011

When Diplomacy Goes Wrong

Diplomacy efforts can always be tricky, consisting as they do of balancing the considerations of different cultures whilst getting your point across, and in volatile situations can be even more so. The recent British effort in Libya can definitely be marked as a colossal failure, but aside from making the Foreign Secretary look stupid there could be major consequences. This has massive implications for any future diplomatic efforts in this region.  

 

   

It has been recognised that the use of both soft and hard power within diplomacy helps to ensure a nation’s position on the international stage. This catastrophic British mission, which saw eight SAS soldiers detained by rebel Libyan fighters, has seriously harmed the British government’s ability to use soft and hard power on the international stage. It has made British elite forces look incompetent which may make the threat of hard power from Britain seem insignificant. It could also weaken the ability to use soft power as they were caught whilst acting covertly which may be perceived by other nations as a reason to be suspicious of British diplomacy.

This embarrassing episode could have greater impact on British diplomacy, far beyond making William Hague look just a little silly.  

Sources from:
Image credited from http://www.politics.co.uk/news/economy-and-finance/william-hague-labels-labour-weak-and-washed-out--$1242623.htm
Video From ITV World Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSUPAD9JNZA

Other Sources:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/british-special-forces-team-released-after-botched-mission-2234233.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12658054

Murdoch’s influence exposed!

The announcement that  Cultural Secretary Jermeny Hunt’s has given the go ahead for News Corporation’s to takeover of the remaining share BskyB could have implication for communication landscape in Britain. If the takeover goes ahead, which is most likely, News Corp will own the largest share of British media giving it increasing power over British Public opinion.  It also brings up questions over how much influence the Murdoch’s empire has over the British Government considering both Ofcom and Office of Fair Trading express concerns.

Public opinion is influenced by the media as it is a key channel of information and pluralism within the media means that people has access to a variety of opinion to form their belief. This means that if News Corp becomes the largest media owner in the UK it could have massive influence of public opinion and sharp it to its interest. Though News Corp agreed to cease control of Sky News it will still fund it, meaning that Sky News will still be very depends on New Corp!  

This deal is not only worrying for News Corp’s future influence on public opinion and therefore British governmental policies, but also brings up question about its current influence on British government.   The government agree to this deal which has huge financial possibility to News Corp regardless of the concerns of the independent bodies. This may suggest that the government is trying reward News Corp for their support during the election.

This announcement brings up many question of the influence of News Corp on the British government and policy. However, the fact that News Corps has have to make concession means that it must not be the all-powerful that many people claim