For some light holiday reading, I picked up the UN Global Compact International Yearbook 2011. While it’s not exactly a le Carré novel, it also wasn’t the stale drivel these kinds of publications usually are.
Particularly interesting was one article, “The Accountability Web: Weaving Corporate Accountability with Interactive Technology,” by Bill Baue and Marcy Murninghan. And no, I’m not just singling out this article because it mentions CEO2: The Climate Business Game that we developed for WWF and Allianz in 2010.
The article does a nice job of tracking the recent evolution of “Accountability 2.0,” and the biggest recent steps toward real “two-way communication and cooperation” with stakeholders online. Best company practices described here include websites by Patagonia, Natura, and SAP’s interactive Sustainability Report.
Also interesting is the mention of games the “lighter side” of The Accountability Web. Here it mentions a few examples, including CEO2, IBM’s CityOne, and the Climate Bathtub Simulator from MIT and others.
The authors elaborate:
Interactive games and simulations might similarly be used to enhance corporate accountability, building scenarios, and enabling multiple stakeholders to sort through complex issues and test solutions.
Well put. Let’s hope 2012 brings more good examples!
More of Braue’s and Murninghan’s insights can be found here.
Image: Screenshot from CEO2, © Allianz and WWF 2010
