Our success depends upon doing business better. It involves the development and improvement of strategy and of an enhanced dialogue with people with a stake in our business. In short, everything that brings a business long-term success and durability and benefits its customers and people.
Listening to our customers and our people
The Bigger Picture is informed by what people say they expect of us. We've been having bigger conversations with more people, both inside and outside the business, and getting close to their attitudes to Sky.
The Bigger Conversation
In 2007, we introduced an innovative new idea for engaging with our customers. We hosted The Bigger Conversation which brought together over 190 customers and prospective customers to get their input to the initiatives we're focusing on and to give them the chance to tell us what practical ideas and suggestions for Sky to consider. Participants developed varied and inventive ideas that were then pitched to an expert panel. Many reflected areas of work that Sky is already looking at, and helped to confirm the direction of Sky's Bigger Picture future work.
Sky Forum
The Sky Forum provides our people the opportunity to give us their feedback on what is important to them and brings people closer to our executives, giving all employees a voice. Representatives from around the business are also updated on business information and planning to share with their constituencies.
Doing Business Better
So when we spoke to our customers, our people and opinion formers outside the business they told us what mattered to them. This included climate change, learning, arts, choice and accessibility. These are all reflected in The Bigger Picture and the commitments we have made to doing business better.
Tackling a key responsibility
We want our customers to enjoy all our products safely and responsibly - whether that be through the TV, PC or mobile phone. Here are just two ways in which we are responding:
Parental control and online protection - we have introduced a parental control feature, including age rating filters to prevent the viewing of selected programmes and provide PIN protection for films shown during the day.
To meet the needs of our customers online, we have teamed up with McAfee to provide an internet security suite on all Sky Broadband products.For more information on parental controls and advice on internet safety, go to www.sky.com/security
Responsible Gambling - we have also introduced strict measures to ensure our customers can enjoy using Sky Bet's sports betting, poker and games on TV, online, by mobile and by phone. Sky Bet aims to be the industry leader in encouraging responsible gambling and has a range of customer-led controls to enable our customers to manage their gambling.
This includes daily deposit limits, session limits, age verification mechanisms, secure PIN access to Sky Bet and 24 hour cooling off periods. All our gambling and gaming products are operated in line with the Sky Bet Code of Practice for Interactive Gaming - developed in 2003 with GamCare, a leading authority for information, advice and practical help on responsible gambling.
In addition, Sky Bet reflects the Social Responsibility Code of the Remote Gambling Association, which sets minimum standards on age verification, advice on responsible gambling, and the advertising and promotion of these products. It also gives guidance for customer service teams on social responsibility and problem gambling. For more information visit http://www.skybet.com/
For more information on our approach to running a responsible business go to The Bigger Picture Review 2007 at www.sky.com/corporate