Kay, Day and CSR
The economist, academic, author and serial non-exec John Kay and the BBC Business reporter Peter Day came to speak at a work event last week. I’m a big John Kay fan, having read most of his books and columns. However, this was the first time that I’d met him. He didn’t disappoint, except for sounding less Scottish than I’d imagined he would.
John’s best line, in my opinion, was going further than asking whether businesses should engage in ‘corporate social responsibility’ to actually ask by what right they did this – recognising that their choices for charitable causes may not be the same as their customers’ or shareholders’. This has stuck with me, not least because I walk past a branch of bath-bomb outlet Lush (complete with TRAINS NOT PLANES! window poster) on my way to and from work.
Peter Day, on the other hand, I have never particularly taken to. He seemed much more qualified to ask questions than to answer them. This makes him both a good choice for a business reporter and a poor choice of panel member. However, to give him credit, he gave a good answer to a question from the floor about the role of the media in the current crisis, staunchly defending Robert Peston, the BBC’s business editor who seems to be unfairly loathed for having the audacity to do his job well while being in the posession of a slightly odd voice.
