When your calendar is a moral document: A conversation with Reverend Jim Wallis

When your calendar is a moral document: A conversation with Reverend Jim Wallis
The CEO of the social-justice organization Sojourners discusses the imperative for rethinking values in the wake of the economic downturn.

JANUARY 2010

At this year’s World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, the topic of corporate ethics and personal values will take on marquee status as one of the six highlighted pillars of the 2010 meeting. Reverend Jim Wallis—author, CEO of the social-justice organization Sojourners, and Davos veteran—has helped drive the change that moved the issue of values to the core of this year’s discussions. In this video interview, Wallis reflects on the opportunity that the crisis affords for reestablishing ethics in our lives and in the marketplace. He also shares some of his Davos experiences and notes how his conversations with CEOs there about ethics in business helped set the stage for his latest book, Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street—A Moral Compass for the New Economy. McKinsey Publishing’s Rik Kirkland spoke with Wallis in Washington, DC.

Managing water strategically: An interview with the CEO of Rio Tinto

Managing water strategically: An interview with the CEO of Rio Tinto
Tom Albanese explains how Rio Tinto is adapting its operations to a future when climate change may make the world’s dry parts drier and wet parts wetter.

JANUARY 2010

Water management has become a strategic issue for Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining groups, whose operations tend to be located in areas that are either arid or plagued by torrential rains. In this video interview, CEO Tom Albanese discusses the economics of water, the role of climate change, and how Rio Tinto is adapting its operations and seeking to make water management a source of advantage. Bill Javetski, an editor with the McKinsey Publishing group, conducted the interview with Tom Albanese in Durham, North Carolina.

Reshaping business education in a new era

Reshaping business education in a new era
Blair Sheppard, dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, discusses how the expectations of MBA students are changing—and why the traditional MBA education needs to change as well.

JANUARY 2010

Source: Strategy Practice

This is a Conversation Starter, one in a series of invited opinions on topical issues. Watch the video, then share your thoughts by commenting below.

With rising interest in corporate social responsibility and increasing doubt in the sanctity of institutions, an evolving breed of MBA student is surveying the business landscape with a more discerning eye and demanding a new type of education. One person who feels this shift acutely is Blair Sheppard, dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Sheppard has a prime view of this maelstrom of forces—changing expectations from students, different contours of global business, new management issues for educational institutions—and a unique perspective on what these portend for business students and business schools alike. He spoke in New York with McKinsey Quarterly editor Allen Webb about where MBA education stands in the wake of the financial crisis, and where he thinks it’s headed.

Eric Mead: The magic of the placebo

Sugar pills, injections of nothing -- studies show that, more often than you'd expect, placebos really work. At TEDMED, magician Eric Mead does a trick to prove that, even when you know something's not real, you can still react as powerfully as if it is. (Warning: This talk is not suitable for viewers who are disturbed by needles or blood.)