Quotes of 2012

Most surprisingly, Schwab said capitalism was “outdated.” “Capitalism was born when capital was the most important resource. Today, it is talent that is most important." Thankfully for the bankers coming here, he still believes in a market economy.






Mark Twain once said, “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.”




Meri Nana-Ama Danquah@Educate Yourself


"It is possible to obtain success without formal schooling, but it is next to impossible to do so without education. Instead of wasting time crying in your soup about what you don’t have or were not able to do, focus that energy on finding a way to move past the limitations of your circumstances."












Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt





“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”


Marianne Williamson

Ecclesiastes 10

 ¹ As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
   so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
² The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
   but the heart of the fool to the left.
³ Even as fools walk along the road,
   they lack sense
   and show everyone how stupid they are.
⁴ If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
   do not leave your post;
   calmness can lay great offenses to rest.

 ⁵ There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
   the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
⁶ Fools are put in many high positions,
   while the rich occupy the low ones.
⁷ I have seen slaves on horseback,
   while princes go on foot like slaves.

 ⁸ Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;
   whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
⁹ Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
   whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.

 ¹⁰ If the ax is dull
   and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed,
   but skill will bring success.

 ¹¹ If a snake bites before it is charmed,
   the charmer receives no fee.

 ¹² Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,
   but fools are consumed by their own lips.
¹³ At the beginning their words are folly;
   at the end they are wicked madness—
 ¹⁴ and fools multiply words.

   No one knows what is coming—
   who can tell someone else what will happen after them?

 ¹⁵ The toil of fools wearies them;
   they do not know the way to town.

 ¹⁶ Woe to the land whose king was a servant^[a]
   and whose princes feast in the morning.
¹⁷ Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
   and whose princes eat at a proper time—
   for strength and not for drunkenness.

 ¹⁸ Through laziness, the rafters sag;
   because of idle hands, the house leaks.

 ¹⁹ A feast is made for laughter,
   wine makes life merry,
   and money is the answer for everything.

 ²⁰ Do not revile the king even in your thoughts,
   or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
   and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

A breakdown in our values

Bonuses are a symbol of business's bigger problem - an eroded sense of duty to the wider community

• Klaus Schwab
• 
  
• 
  
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 6 January 2010 21.00 GMT
• Article history

Given the uncertainty of the recovery and fears about the social impact of the economic crisis, it is little wonder that debate about corporate bonuses has crept back on to the agenda. You wonder whether managers have learned from the excesses that have to a large extent caused the crisis.

Nevertheless, this discussion is superficial, as it doesn't consider the essential point: the role that companies, including banks, play in society, and the role of executives within those companies. The bonus discussion is actually just a symbol of a much deeper transformation that has taken place in the business world. Let me outline this transformation, as it has severe social implications.

Almost 40 years ago, I developed the "stakeholder" theory for businesses. This considers the enterprise as a community, with a number of social groups connected directly or indirectly to the enterprise which are dependent on its success and prosperity. These of course include shareholders and creditors; but employees, customers, suppliers, the state and the society in which the enterprise is active are stakeholders.

The idea at the core of the Davos meetings was to create a platform where managers could meet their stakeholders and discuss their mutual responsibility. According to the stakeholder approach, the management of the enterprise acts as a trustee for all stakeholders – not just for share owners. It is based on the principle that each individual is embedded in societal communities in which the common good can only be promoted through the interaction of all participants – and business success is also embedded in this interaction.

We have witnessed a gradual erosion of this communitarian spirit over recent years. This erosion of societal values has progressed particularly in the business world, and is also one of the primary reasons of the current economic crisis.

The enterprise has transformed from a purposeful unit to a functional unit: the purpose of an enterprise – to create goods and services for the common good – in society has been replaced by a purely functional enterprise philosophy, aimed at maximising profits in the shortest time possible with the aim of maximising shareholder value. But if management decision-making processes are decoupled from the responsibility of managers for their own risk-taking, the entrepreneurial system becomes perverted.

In this context, the enterprise is no longer an organic community; it becomes a functional "profit-generating machine". All parts that do not fulfil their purpose are replaceable: managers, employees, products, locations. This development was particularly visible in the financial sector, where there is at best only an indirect connection with the original purpose of an enterprise, meaning the creation of substantive, real value.

This has consequences for individual behaviour: one cannot expect anything but selfish thought and action from somebody who knows that he or she is replaceable at any time. Instead of a communitarian sense of duty, there is a rise of individualistic profit-seeking behaviour in which society plays only a secondary role.

The current crisis should actually sound the alarm for us to fundamentally rethink the development of our morals, our ethical norms and the regulatory mechanisms that underpin our economy, politics and global interconnectedness. It would be a wasted opportunity for all of us if we pretended that the crisis was simply a bad dream, especially now that we are beginning to see the first signs of improvement in rising share prices or quarterly profits returning to banks – with corresponding bonuses – which are admittedly only financial indicators.

Unfortunately the reality we are hiding from looks different: the financial crisis has led not only to an increasing level of unemployment that will remain with us for years to come. It also puts an enormous pressure on public goods and services, as governments are forced to pay off ballooning debts. The billions that are needed to pay off the debts will lead to higher taxes, reductions of social and public health systems, and reduced investments in education and infrastructure. In the end, it is the taxpayer, the average citizen, who pays for the costs of the crisis.

There is a real danger that the financial and economic crisis will develop into a social crisis. Difficult times lie ahead. If we want to keep society together, a sense of community and solidarity are more important now than ever before. This communitarian spirit is the basis of the stakeholder principle. We need to embrace that stakeholder principle, not just within the narrow confines of companies, but at a national and global level as well.

From this context, the bonus debate is just a symbol of a more fundamental question: whether we can adopt a more communitarian spirit or whether we will fall back into old habits and excesses, thereby further undermining social peace.

A breakdown in our values

Bonuses are a symbol of business's bigger problem - an eroded sense of duty to the wider community

• 
• • Klaus Schwab
  • guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 6 January 2010 21.00 GMT
  • Article history

Given the uncertainty of the recovery and fears about the social impact of the economic crisis, it is little wonder that debate about corporate bonuses has crept back on to the agenda. You wonder whether managers have learned from the excesses that have to a large extent caused the crisis.

Nevertheless, this discussion is superficial, as it doesn't consider the essential point: the role that companies, including banks, play in society, and the role of executives within those companies. The bonus discussion is actually just a symbol of a much deeper transformation that has taken place in the business world. Let me outline this transformation, as it has severe social implications.

Almost 40 years ago, I developed the "stakeholder" theory for businesses. This considers the enterprise as a community, with a number of social groups connected directly or indirectly to the enterprise which are dependent on its success and prosperity. These of course include shareholders and creditors; but employees, customers, suppliers, the state and the society in which the enterprise is active are stakeholders.

The idea at the core of the Davos meetings was to create a platform where managers could meet their stakeholders and discuss their mutual responsibility. According to the stakeholder approach, the management of the enterprise acts as a trustee for all stakeholders – not just for share owners. It is based on the principle that each individual is embedded in societal communities in which the common good can only be promoted through the interaction of all participants – and business success is also embedded in this interaction.

We have witnessed a gradual erosion of this communitarian spirit over recent years. This erosion of societal values has progressed particularly in the business world, and is also one of the primary reasons of the current economic crisis.

The enterprise has transformed from a purposeful unit to a functional unit: the purpose of an enterprise – to create goods and services for the common good – in society has been replaced by a purely functional enterprise philosophy, aimed at maximising profits in the shortest time possible with the aim of maximising shareholder value. But if management decision-making processes are decoupled from the responsibility of managers for their own risk-taking, the entrepreneurial system becomes perverted.

In this context, the enterprise is no longer an organic community; it becomes a functional "profit-generating machine". All parts that do not fulfil their purpose are replaceable: managers, employees, products, locations. This development was particularly visible in the financial sector, where there is at best only an indirect connection with the original purpose of an enterprise, meaning the creation of substantive, real value.

This has consequences for individual behaviour: one cannot expect anything but selfish thought and action from somebody who knows that he or she is replaceable at any time. Instead of a communitarian sense of duty, there is a rise of individualistic profit-seeking behaviour in which society plays only a secondary role.

The current crisis should actually sound the alarm for us to fundamentally rethink the development of our morals, our ethical norms and the regulatory mechanisms that underpin our economy, politics and global interconnectedness. It would be a wasted opportunity for all of us if we pretended that the crisis was simply a bad dream, especially now that we are beginning to see the first signs of improvement in rising share prices or quarterly profits returning to banks – with corresponding bonuses – which are admittedly only financial indicators.

Unfortunately the reality we are hiding from looks different: the financial crisis has led not only to an increasing level of unemployment that will remain with us for years to come. It also puts an enormous pressure on public goods and services, as governments are forced to pay off ballooning debts. The billions that are needed to pay off the debts will lead to higher taxes, reductions of social and public health systems, and reduced investments in education and infrastructure. In the end, it is the taxpayer, the average citizen, who pays for the costs of the crisis.

There is a real danger that the financial and economic crisis will develop into a social crisis. Difficult times lie ahead. If we want to keep society together, a sense of community and solidarity are more important now than ever before. This communitarian spirit is the basis of the stakeholder principle. We need to embrace that stakeholder principle, not just within the narrow confines of companies, but at a national and global level as well.

From this context, the bonus debate is just a symbol of a more fundamental question: whether we can adopt a more communitarian spirit or whether we will fall back into old habits and excesses, thereby further undermining social peace.

Prof Frimpong-Boateng honoured in Ohio as 'African Hero'

Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng

Many in Ghana affectionately call him Ghana’s “heartman” in apparent bemusement for what he does for a living – opening up the torso of those with ailing hearts and fixing them. He is Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, whose extraordinary service to country, continent, and fellow men has caught the attention of African students studying at Ohio University who voted him for the 2012 edition of the coveted African Heroes award.

Professor Frimpong-Boateng’s extraordinary expedition to distinction began at the University of Ghana Medical School, where he obtained the MB (Bachelor of Medicine) and ChB (Bachelor of Surgery) degrees, emerging at the top of his class and also winning the Easmon Prize for being the best student in surgery. He served as a House Officer or intern at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana foremost teaching and referral hospital before moving to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana’s Garden City, Kumasi, as a medical officer.

Professor Frimpong-Boateng, like many of his contemporaries who sought specialization in the medical field, had to migrate to Europe for lack of facilities for specialization back home. He headed to Boppard in Germany, where he studied at Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (Hannover Medical High School) and specialized in cardiothoracic surgery from 1978 to 1988. He is a qualified Cardiothoracic and Vascular surgeon and a consultant. He was one of the pioneers of the heart transplantation program in Hannover, where he also taught both undergraduate and postgraduate Thorax, Cardiothoracic and Vascular surgery.

In spite of the lure of economic security and luxury offered by the industrialized nations to professionals of his caliber, Professor Frimpong-Boateng decided to return home after a few years’ at the Hannover Medical High School. For many of his compatriots and many other professionals from developing countries, these are not opportunities to be deliberated. They are simply an escape from economic and professional frustrations back home.

He returned to Ghana with a blueprint to open the Cardiothoracic Center, the first of its kind in a region where such facilities are to be sought in Europe, America, or South Africa by its elites. Like many other innovators, his journey has not been a smooth one to paradise. He has had a fair share of the frustrations and the disappointments that has forced many Africans to return to countries of their training after failing to find their feet in their own countries after their return.

This success story cannot be told without the mention of Ghana’s former president, Jerry John Rawlings, who took personal interest in his project and opened an office at the seat of government, where activities involving the establishment of the center were coordinated from. Indeed, political leadership can make a huge difference in the equation sometimes.

Professor Boateng has trained myriads of students from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and across the African continent and can rightly been seen to have affected many lives on the continent and beyond. He is also the founder of the Ghana Heart Foundation, a charity that offers financial support to offset the cost of surgery for the poor who are unable to afford the procedure at the center he helped founded. He is a member of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and has won many awards, including the Millennium Excellence Award in Ghana.

In 2006, he contested the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) presidential slut in the hope of representing his party in Ghana’s 2008 presidential elections but lost. Understandably, he must have appreciated the things that ail his country, poor leadership, like a sick heart, from his surgical lens, hoping he could be given the nod to represent his party and country in order to place his country under his surgical knife to correct its heartbeat. But politics can be more complex than the human heartbeat.

Those who made it to the award list were two of his compatriots, former Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization (CTO) and an alumnus of the Center for International Studies, Ohio University, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, and the poet extraordinaire, Professor Kofi Kumado. The others were Professor Eustace Palmer, a Sierra-Leonean literary giant, Dr. Wanjiru Kamau, Christened by the Obama administration as “champion of change,” and finalist for 2011 CNN’s Hero, Derreck Kayongo.

Past recipient of this award were Dr. Philista Onyango from Kenya, a board member of UNICEF and Professor Steve Howard, the Director of the African Studies program in OU. These are individuals who have demonstrated enduring commitments to the African continent in myriad ways.
Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, we welcome you to Athens, Ohio, with great pleasure. Your shining example should inspire others to also put their skills at the service of mother Africa. The African Students Union, Ohio University, says Ayeekoo to you!!!


From: USA/Prosper Yao Tsikata for ASU