The Lapdesk Company

It is generally understood that the success of a company cannot entirely depend upon one single individual, notwithstanding the fact that an ingenious idea, ultimately leading to the company’s success, may originally have been ‘birthed’ from only one person.  The axiom that “no man is an island to himself”, truly resonates and for a company to achieve success, it requires a collective effort of a team of people who support and share a common vision.  Equally, a company needs to be supported by the community in which it operates, and without the support of all the connected stakeholders, both young and old, the company is doomed to certain failure.

In this vein the world has embarked upon a united vision for good governance, where companies are increasingly expected to report on their commitment to People, the Planet and the manner in which Profit is derived.  Typically called PPP, according to the King Code for Governance in South Africa (King III), locally based companies will be expected to report on these areas as an integral, integrated component of their business.  The first leg of PPP, namely the People component is where many companies are beginning to focus their attention, not just locally, but indeed worldwide.  And its not just about the adults that companies are concerning themselves about -- it’s the children too, indeed the very people who are our future and are now being enlightened at an early age about good governance practices.  Supporting these types of initiatives, is an organization such as Artech, a Japanese non-profit, non-governmental organization who is responsible for assisting children -- who represent 20% of the world’s population between 10 and 19 -- to understand the impact both their and the adults’ actions have upon the world’s environment.  The Kid’s ISO 14000 programme follows on the back of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002, where the United Nations announced plans to launch the ‘Decade of Education for Sustainable Development’ for 2005-2015.