Frank,

Thanks for taking the time to write a detailed reply. This is my second blog and I may stress my blog not Nestle’s. As you can tell this is my time (the weekend) and I have done so out of personal interest on knowing more about the blogging world where MY interests were peaked by Robert.

This is not some corporate plan to sway the blogging world towards Nestle being perceived as a kinder gentler Company. It was not a well scripted PR plan to pull Robert on my side in fact had I known this would be the perception I would have left his name out of it.Since the meeting last week with Robert Nestle has not had time to make a decison on a blogging strategy. This is just me and I hope I am doing the right thing.

George to Robert…..lets leave Nestle out of this for a moment. My own feelings are that there is a long history of Governments, Religion, Countries, and yes Corporations that have blinded the masses with propaganda and eventually did evil acts. With this history it is good that people like you and the blogging world act as watchdogs to avoid repeating of the past. I certainly don’t believe this is the case at Nestle. If I ever get the feeling that I am wrong then I walk away and return to my home Country and find another Company.

You know generally when a Company is big they don’t need to save money to risk cutting corners,they pay all licence cost for software, they invest in proper wastewater treatment plants, they become good social citizens.The Companies that take risks don’t last long. In fact many times we are not competitive with small local companies who do not follow local laws and do not draw the attenton of NGOs. The world is to small to play around with saving a few dollars and risking public isolation.

As you clearly understand Corporations are run by people and many decision making responsibilities are pushed down to the local Country Managers and sometimes they make mistakes. People maked decisions mostly with the right intentions that sometimes backfire. However CEOs are responsible for all decisions that impact the Nestle Brand and often find themselves in situations that require repair.

The more people you have making decisions the more open you are to mistakes being made. The key point I was trying to make from an inside perspective is that Nestle is not a calculating evil doer. I know most of the key personal at the most senior rank and I see on a daily basis communication and policy being developed with strong intent for social responsibility.

I noticed there were several blogs on why I did not engage in details and debate issues. The reason for this is simply that I am not blogging to improve PR for Nestle on events around the world. This would take far to long and I am enjoying a quite weekend in July where the weather is hot. I urge you to visit our site and read Nestle in Africa if you want details.

The Company I work for has been around for over 100 years, anyone that has lived a 100 years would make some mistakes but that does not make them evil, my belief and that is all I have is that Nestle is a great corporate citizen with honestly good intentions.

With regards to your comments about your co-worker….. (”Right now I have a desk next to a guy who is a superb bureaucrat. The other night he was sweating over a deadline and he’d been working hard for days”).Does he have to be a bureaucrat to work hard and take pride in his work. Maybe he is like many of the hard workers in our society that chooses to do what ever they do well for self satisfaction not simply to collect a paycheck.I believe that you love to blog and spend a great amount of time doing it because you are passionate about this. Be careful some one may give you a shake while you are on the keyboard and tell you to smile while inside you have been smiling the whole time

Regards,
George