Tag: social engagement

I couldn’t give a tinker’s toss about Tiger Woods but I am also fairly sickened by the hypocrisy of the firms dropping him like a hot cake. Presumably they will all be purging their Boards and senior management of all who have a record of extra marital affairs?

What really got me is the fact that a consulting company called Accenture is paying Woods 12 million dollars. If I were either an employee or a shareholder of this company I would be asking what commercial value it can possibly be recovering from this arrangement.

Call me an old cynic but I suspect it has more to do with the fact that key board members are golf groupies who love to turn up at tournaments in exotic places around the world glad handing it and maxing out on their expense accounts as they “promote” the company.

OK, perhaps a tad harsh…? I picked this little rant up from a quality ranter friend of mine yesterday and because it unsettled me – I wanted to share it. I think there is a point worth discussing in here, and whilst $12m may not be much (cough cough) to the company in question, it’s quite a pile of loot.

I wonder what kind of social engagement could have been funded with this sum? Imagine if the company had engaged with colleagues and customers to co-create a piece of work designed to meet community needs. The kind of social engagement that might have made folk think – hey – these guys are in it for the money so they can do something cool with some of it. I know…the next time we need business advice we’ll consider using a firm that maybe gives a damn…

Like my ranter friend, I struggle to see a sufficiently compelling link between advising and encouraging organisations to be the best they can, and a lone wolf type of sports star. Whatever you think of Mr Woods, a team player he is not (self confessed). And as much as it might disappoint the egos of some high flyers, without people, we’re nothing.

What might you do with $12m of sponsorship fund?