This workshop, held on May 19-21 as part of the EABIS ‘CSR Platform’ Project supported by the EU FP6, brought together 23 PhD students from a variety of national backgrounds to compare ideas, different methodologies and work approaches addressing contemporary research in the field of Corporate Responsibility and Business in Society.

Organised by Prof. Colin Crouch (Chair, Institute of Governance and Public Management, Warwick Business School), with key support from Maureen Kilgour and Simon Smith (WBS), the workshop took the form of alternating plenary and small-group discussions. The positive evaluations of those participants who remained to the end and completed the evaluation forms are attached. The small-group discussions were particularly valued, as they gave each student a chance to develop his/her research theme. It was agreed by the participants that they should develop a community on the EABIS website, so that they could continue to develop the contacts they had made, and invite others to join it. Please visit http://www.eabis.org/csrplatform/phdandpostdoc/WP2event19052006/for more information.

Overall the quality of presentations made by the participants in both small-group and plenary discussions was high, suggesting considerable energy and high-level intellectual work among a new generation in this field. The opportunity to meet others with similar topics was clearly considerably appreciated by the participants, who were often working alone on their topic area, and feeling in need of guidance and theoretical rooting. In making such meeting and discussion possible, the workshop fulfilled its central aim.

If you are interested in follow-up discussions, please join PhD Network community at the EABIS Intranet (contact Volodja Vorobey at volodja.vorobey@eabis.org)

EABIS is happy to announce an important seminar on ‘CSR and Competitiveness’ being hosted by INSEAD Business School and funded by the EU Commission DG Employment and Social Affairs. The day-long session will take place on Tuesday, July 4 in Fontainebleau and follows a similar event the previous day on ‘The Politics of CSR’. Interested participants will have the opportunity to engage in a day-long debate to discuss how the Responsible Competitiveness Framework can define the potential for enhancing competitiveness in Europe  through responsible business practices (‘CSR’), taking the pharmaceutical industry as its focus.           

Seminar Focus   
The event will bring together leading practitioners and figures from academia, business, government, labour unions and other social representatives. Through a variety of formats including panel debate, moderated discussion, group work and plenary reports, the debate will look at Responsible Competitiveness opportunities across the pharmaceutical sector and address the following questions:          

• What CSR dimensions are more relevant to Responsible Competitiveness in Europe?   
• Do responsible business practices in the pharmaceutical sector have a positive/negative/neutral impact on the competitiveness of the European region?    
• What lessons can be learned from companies’ experience and then applied regionally?    
• What is the role of stakeholders in improving Responsible Competitiveness?          

Registration Details    
Participation in the seminar is limited to 40 (forty) people, and there is no charge thanks to the EU Commission funding support for the RESPONSE Project.

For further information on the event itself and details of the registration process, please visit the INSEAD website. http://www.insead.edu/ibis/workshops/4July/

Following the public consultation at the end of 2004 which helped us draft theme 8 “Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities” in the 7th Framework Programme, we are now consulting the public and in particular the scientific community and relevant stakeholders on the  SSH research agenda to be implemented in the 2007-20013 period. The document under consultation outlines the SSH research agenda within each of the following 7 activities:

• 1. Growth, employment and competitiveness in a knowledge society
• 2. Combining economic, social and environmental objectives in a European perspective
• 3. Major trends in society and their implications
• 4. Europe in the world
• 5. The citizen in the European Union
• 6. Socio-economic and scientific indicators
• 7. Foresight activities

You are invited to provide the Commission with comments on the design of each of these Activities. In order to do that, please fill in the form available at the following address: Consultation in SSH in FP7.

The full text under consultation is also available in the following website:
ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/citizens/docs/draft-research-agenda-theme-8.pdf

Your views and suggestions will be analysed by the Commission services and will provide an important input to the preparation of the annual work programmes for this theme, which will contain the research content of the calls for proposals.

On 18 March 2006, 105 full-time Masters students in the General and Financial Management Programme of the Vlerick Leuven Ghent School of Management organised a ‘Benefit’ event with the goal of helping children in Central America to gain access to education. During the ‘Benefit’ day a fund-raising event was organised. In total, €4.100 was collected and donated to the Stichting Angels.

Next to the fund-raising activity, students organised a Vlerick Angels Acknowledgment to reward a Belgian company for its active contribution to children and education. Colruyt NV, one of Belgium’s biggest discount-stores, received the Acknowledgement in recognition of the company’s efforts in the worldwide educational development of children.

Please click here to find out more of the Ibis programme at Vlerick Leuven Ghent School of Management or click here to receive more information of the Stichting Angels.

Ethical Corporation, 17 May 2006 - Professor Gilbert Lenssen answers some key questions about how management education is evolving to teach future business leaders about the value of corporate responsibility What trends in business will drive the future in management education?

Two major trends, globalisation and the widespread adoption of information communication technology, have created an operating environment far more complex and challenging for business than ever before.

How businesses are organised, operate and compete have all undergone, and will continue to undergo, profound changes. As globalisation picks up momentum, the firm is faced with new challenges, including operating in multicultural environments and being forced to navigate complex and varied political environments with a weak or non-existent state. There is more uncertainty and volatility.

Simple corporate philanthropy, on the way to massive profits, is no longer acceptable. A business’s impact on the environment – and the broader economic, cultural and political setting – matters and can bring it competitive advantages, or threaten its survival.

The second major trend is the spread of information technology. Firms have become more embedded with their stakeholders. Distributors, suppliers and even customers have all become interconnected through the internet and corporate intranets. This has led to a redefinition of “the firm” where it is no longer clear boundaries that hold a company together, but its purpose and identity.

All these add up to a very challenging business environment with many new risks. It is the firms that have managers that can successfully navigate this challenging environment, and turn risks into opportunities, that will flourish in such a volatile age.

See rest of the interview here.

Visit Ethical Corporation magazine at www.ethicalcorp.com

EABIS was recently invited to speak at the annual British Bankers Association Corporate
Responsibility Conference (May 11), an important event in the financial calendar attended by CR executives and managers from many of the UK’s leading institutions. Executive Director Peter Lacy addressed the audience on the evolution of the European policy perspective on corporate responsibility since the creation of EABIS. The speech included reflections on the state of the current regulatory debate in light of the EU Commission’s Communication on CSR, and above all enabled the research projects being carried out by EABIS members to be showcased before a high-level and influential
audience.

As such, the event reinforced further the strong reputation that EABIS is developing around Europe as a reference point for insight into CR issues at the European level. The presentation also included a prominent discussion of the results of the 2005-2006 research project led by ESADE Business School with SDA Bocconi and the Norwegian School of Management on the changing role of governments in CR.

The FIR (french SIF), supported by Eurosif, is proud to announce the second installment of the FIR European Research Award 2006. This Award has been conceived to encourage more academic research in the fields of finance and sustainability (see attached presentation).

The jury will be composed of European finance or sustainability academics - as well as of expert practitioners. As was the case last year, the best PhD, the best Master's thesis and the best article will each be granted €5000 prizes. In addition this year, two research grants of €3000 each will be awarded in two fields:"financial instruments" and social issues.

Winners will be profiled in the french daily Le Monde, a partner in the project, and in other european media. Submissions will be expected over the summer (deadline Oct 1st) and the award ceremony will take place on december 4th, 2006 in Paris.

For more information: www.frenchsif.org

Custom Alerts, a new service from the non-profit Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, help you find out.  They enable you to:  

• Keep updated with what people are saying about your company and sector: including reports by local NGOs and journalists worldwide
• Save time: choose from over 2800 companies, 150 sectors and 150 issues - every time we add a relevant item to our site you receive an automatic email alert
• Be prepared for questions about your company’s social and environmental conduct  

To find out more visit: www.business-humanrights.org/CustomAlerts

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is an independent non-profit, in partnership with Amnesty International sections and leading academic institutions worldwide.  Our website receives 1.5 million hits per month and our Weekly Updates are sent to thousands of opinion leaders worldwide.

Ethical Corporation is releasing a special free report focusing on business schools and universities offering corporate responsibility related education. Written by Ethical Corporation's professional and independent journalists, and featuring guest pieces from London Business School and Haas School of Business, the report focuses on major trends and developments in CSR education, and analyses the world's leading academic institutions offering CSR-related courses. The report is designed for people considering a Masters in a sustainability–type course, an MBA with a CSR focus, or executive education courses for an in-house CSR team. It is also relevant to anyone with a general interest in CSR. The report, free to download from www.ethicalcorp.com/cre, features articles on:

• The rise of business ethics in academic institutions
• Mainstreaming CSR education
• Regional analysis of Business Schools around the world offering CSR courses
• Business school initiatives around CSR
• MBA's and Beyond Grey Pinstripes: what does it all mean?

A PDF version of the report can be downloaded at: www.ethicalcorp.com/cre

Social Venture Network (SVN) has earned the reputation as a beacon for socially responsible business. Counted among its members are global business leaders, investors and owners, all of whom benefit from one of the richest cross-pollinating professional organizations on the planet.

Believing the time is right to share the wealth of its innovative ideas and inspirations beyond its membership, SVN has launched the Social Venture Network Book Series. The eight-volume series will debut with two 2006 titles, Values-Driven Business: How to Change the World, Make Money, and Have Fun by Ben Cohen and Mal Warwick (now available), and True to Yourself: Leading a Values-Based Business by Mark Albion (available July 2006).

The hallmark of the Social Venture Network Book Series is practical, real-life advice on how to create and grow a values-driven business, written by pioneers of socially responsible business.The Social Venture Network Book Series will offer eight books by the end of 2007. The low-priced, down-to-earth paperbacks will show how easy (and how profitable) it can be to run a values-based business. Written for everyone from corporate executives to business school students, aspiring entrepreneurs and front-line employees, the books offer inside information on what works – and doesn’t work – from a formidable roster of socially responsible business leaders and authors.

The Social Venture Network Book Series represents a landmark partnership between SVN and Berrett-Koehler Publishers (www.bkconnection.com). For information about the series, go to www.svnbooks.com.

Deadline: 15 June 2006

Following EABIS' highly successful Education and Training Exchange in Warsaw, EABIS will again be hosting the event, this time in Milan, Italy. The EABIS European Corporate Responsibility Education & Training Exchange is an interactive knowledge-sharing forum for the presentation and discovery of an increasing range of high quality education and training initiatives related to corporate responsibility. EABIS has created this platform exclusively for leading innovators to share their success stories with other CR stakeholders such as potential partners, customers, policy-makers and civil society organisations. Please click here to download the Call for Presentations.          

Format   

The Exchange is set up like a ‘fair’, in which representatives deliver a 5-10 minute presentation on a rolling basis to between 250 and 300 participants walking freely between the stalls. To facilitate deeper debate on contemporary challenges and opportunities in education and training initiatives, it will also incorporate five moderated Symposiums on the following themes: In-Company Training (moderated by ENI Corporate University), Undergraduate (Politecnico di Milano), MBA and Masters (SDA Bocconi), Executive Education (ISTUD) and Faculty & PhD Development (Università Cattolica).

Deadline: 31 May, 2006  

We are pleased to announce the 2006 EABIS Colloquium Call for Inputs and Reflective Papers from Business Practitioners, Policy-Makers and Other Stakeholders (NGOs, civil society groups, etc). Given the central theme of this year’s Colloquium, we welcome submissions and contributions from all business functions and professional activities related to Corporate Responsibility and Strategic Management in order to broaden the content of the general debate. Please click here for full details.          

Location / Theme    

This year’s event will take place in Milan on September 11 and 12, kindly hosted by SDA Bocconi School of Management.  The conference will take as its central theme: Corporate Sustainability, Strategic Management and the Stakeholder View of the Firm

The EABIS 2006 Leaders Forum took place in late April at the Suez-Tractebel headquarters in Brussels. Hosted by EABIS Chairman Viscount Etienne Davignon, the event brought together senior representatives from across the Business and Academic Groups to discuss key strategic issues surrounding the continued evolution of the EABIS mission and the growth of the organisation.

At the centre of the Forum was the inaugural Research, Education and Training Exchange. Mirroring the successful Education and Training Exchange from the Warsaw 2005 Colloquium and the CSR Europe Marketplace events on which it is modelled, the Exchange created a platform to display the cutting-edge research being conducted in the EU Commission-funded RESPONSE and CSR Platform Projects, and the new knowledge development emerging from the projects funded by EABIS’ founding corporate partners, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Shell and Unilever.

A series of open, interactive presentations given by project leaders and engaged researchers enabled senior institutional figures to learn more about the tangible outputs that are being delivered by EABIS research teams across Europe, key learnings that are of course available to the entire network (check EABIS Main community for more information).

The European Commission has launched its new EU Communication on CSR and plans for a European Alliance on the topic. CSR Europe, founding partner of EABIS, has been closely involved in both developments following its European Roadmap on CSR in 2005.

Specifically related to EABIS’ mission, the EU Communication on CSR and the EU European Business Alliance both stress the crucial role of knowledge development and learning on corporate responsibility in companies and academia. “Research” and “Education” are highlighted as 2 of the 8 priority areas, with business schools and universities given responsibility for achieving these EU’s goals.

This is an important and empowering message for EABIS and its members. It comes at an excellent time as EABIS celebrates three years of growth and success as a network. EABIS looks forward to discussing how it can build on this momentum with you.

For further information: EU CSR Policy Launch and EU European Business Alliance.