A PS to DEI?

London Business School academic Alex Edmans has a new article out: The End of DEI.

Hold on to your MAGA cap if you’re part of the anti-woke brigade thinking the tide had turned: it isn’t what you think. Edmans isn’t proposing we entirely dump diversity, equity and inclusion. He argues it needs reshaping with new concepts—potential, synergy and inclusion.

Writing for the Oxford Business Law blog, Edmans explains that his new thinking aims to get beyond DEI “checklist compliance”, and “harness its benefits while addressing its challenges”.

There is much to explain, so please head over to the blog, but here’s a taster: “DEI does not need another acronym or a rebranding,” he says and adds that he argues for a “fundamental reform of practice: to hire people based on their potential and help them realise it; to build teams around synergy and complementarity; and to foster inclusive environments that encourage a range of perspectives.”

He goes on: “These are not merely HR concerns or left-wing issues: every employee and department can aim to integrate them into organisation practice, and all policy makers can embed them within society.”

Tiers for fears

Worth looking back on COP30 in Belém and a letter issued by COP president , in which he sets out the possibility of a “two-tier” process for sorting climate change.

One process, Tier 1, would focus on work much the same as it is now. Tier 2 would be a fully charged group of nations willing to move faster on topics such as voluntary targets and initiatives.

But beware: this may have consequences for big international corporates, according to Westlaw Today legal eagle Pamela Wu.

She highlights the possibility of some jurisdictions moving faster on regulatory updates while others see “more modest near-term policy change”.

“Companies with global footprints may face sharper contrasts between jurisdictions that are accelerating implementation and those that are not, even where both remain formally committed to international frameworks.”

Climate change may be about to get a little more complicated. For some.

Prompt action

Hardly a day goes by when the news isn’t reporting some poor soul who swallowed the marketing and put a tad too much faith in the output of genAI.

But AI is not just about wrong answers; it’s also about answers the wrong way. The Financial Times reports that a KPMG partner in Australia has been fined by the firm for using AI to cheat on a test about, yes, you’ve guessed it… AI.

According to the report, the partner was forced to redo the test while KPMG also reveals around two dozen other staffers have been caught using AI to dodge internal exam rules.

We can only suppose the embarrassment is a sign of the times but the problem for service providers like KPMG is whether clients will be wondering if their bills are paying for expertise, or prompts. Who knows?

Disaster masters

According to new research, it turns out CEOs with some experience of natural disaster in their lives turn out to be masters of managing workplace safety.

Researchers from Canada and China looked at 500 CEOs of large US companies and found that firms led by CEOs with childhoods that involved “severe disasters”, such as floods, hurricanes or earthquakes, “reported significantly fewer workplace injuries—about 24% less on average.”

The researchers conclude: “The findings are noteworthy from a governance, leadership and societal perspective, as they suggest there are some corporate leaders who are willing to confront short-term financial constraints and corporate resistance to making workplaces safer.” An explosive observation. For “some”.