How middle management conquered Antarctic

[T_i_B]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2030829,00.html

They marched up the glacier, a sharp wind slicing at their faces, buoyed by the thought that they had joined an elite club of people who have stepped on the remote mainland of Antarctica. At their destination - a pristine white ridge mid-way up an enormous slab of ice - the men and women unfurled their flags.

The corporate banners of a dozen companies, including BP, Kroll and Coca-Cola, fluttered above the last great wilderness. One man took a photo of a Coke bottle wedged in the ice. Another stripped to his boxer shorts.

This week, the graduates of a controversial new brand of leadership training returned to their desks. For its corporate supporters, who paid £16,000 per employee for the trip, the course instills executives with teamwork skills and, crucially, an environmental conscience. For its critics, including a few of last week's participants, it is an indulgent booze-cruise on ice masquerading as corporate social responsibility.

The Leadership on the Edge course began three weeks ago with a slideshow in Ushuaia, on the southern tip of Argentina. Beside the managers, vice presidents and CEOs, Swan used additional sponsorship from Coca-Cola to bring along a handful of students, teachers, environmentalists and journalists. Mr Swan held aloft a pink handbag with the word "toolbox" taped to the side - a reminder of everyone's personal skillset - and rewarded individuals who displayed leadership qualities with plastic orange whistles.