Following on from last year’s inaugural success EABIS’ Founding Partner, CSR Europe recently brought together over 350 leading Corporate Responsibility practitioners for the European Marketplace forum in Brussels. Business leaders who attended the event represented over 65 of the world’s leading multinational corporations, including EABIS Corporate Founding Partners IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Shell and Unilever.

During the event most interesting results of the CSR Europe study on CSR importance among business decision makers were revealed. Over 53% of innovative business solutions indicate that companies are bringing about change in their internal management systems. Implementing CSR solutions also has an impact on the bottom line of business. 45% of business innovations yielded direct bottom line benefits such as improved profits, cost savings, new business opportunities, and operational efficiencies.

The MarketPlace offers a venue for companies to present “best CSR practices and solutions”, but also an exceptional platform where executives can learn about solutions presented by other companies. This year during the morning session participants were able to learn about and exchange with presenters on 120 corporate CSR solutions and share their best practices. The uniqueness of the event lies in the transparency of the practical solutions which CSR Europe and its members have found to be a fantastic opportunity to discover and learn about the successes and challenges of CSR, in an open environment.

The European Commission recently demonstrated their strong support of CSR with the launch, in March 2006, of the European Alliance for Corporate Social Responsibility. Commissioner Vladimír Spidla of the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, was present at the event and underlined the importance of the Alliance in his discourse explaining that such an exchange of experience will help, with the political support of the European Commission, make Europe the pole of excellence on Corporate Social Responsibility.

Cranfield School of Management today announces a major donation which will be used to establish a world-leading Centre for the study of Corporate Responsibility. The Centre will look at all aspects of business in society, including corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, sustainability and environmental management, community involvement and stakeholder activity.

The establishment of the Centre has been made possible through a personal donation by Nigel Doughty, Co-Founder of Doughty Hanson & Co, and an MBA alumnus from Cranfield. Nigel Doughty is making an initial commitment of £3million to fully-fund the Centre for the next five years and to establish a Trust Fund to provide funding for subsequent years. The search to appoint a world-class Chair to lead the Centre is underway.

In establishing a leading Centre for Corporate Responsibility, there will be close links with work in this area already being undertaken at Cranfield School of Management and the European Academy of Business in Society (EABiS), of which the School is a founding member.

Authors: Newell, P.
Produced by: The International Research Network on Business, Development and Society (BDS Network) (2006)
 
This briefing paper presents some of the key cross-cutting insights from the work of the International Research Network on Business, Development and Society which critically examines the adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility as an approach to international development.

Findings of the brief include:

• despite attempts to formulate generally applicable definitions, there is a lack of clear consensus about what is and what is not CSR, reflecting a more fundamental debate about the appropriate role of the corporation in society
• the role of business in development should not only rely on appeals to immediate self-interest (i.e. the business case) but instead emphasise the duties and obligations of firms to help confront problems facing the societies in which they operate
• CSR initiatives work for some firms, in some places, in tackling some issues, some of the time and research should explore the potential and limitations of CSR in specific settings
• though many CSR initiatives focus on output, improved auditing and benchmarking of firms' performance in relation to specified standards and codes, more importance needs to be given to of process in CSR initiatives if they are to benefit poorer groups
• it remains the role of governments, supported by donors and working with firms, civil society groups and researchers, to enable a more critical CSR agenda
• CSR strategies need to graft onto, enhance and amplify the impact of existing pro-poor initiatives, even if they can also make contributions in their own right
• technical and tick-box approaches to CSR that fail to recognise conflict, inequality between stakeholders, and fundamental differences of interest are unlikely to make a meaningful contribution to development.

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC22115

EABIS Presidential Elections for the period 2006-08 will take place during the General Assembly on the 12^th Sept in Milan at the Annual Colloquium. All members have 1 vote. A few key highlights about the role of EABIS President include:

• Chair of the Management Committee (the legal and statutory decision-making body of the organisation)
• Ambassador at external events and in advisory boards / committees
• Strategic direction as link with Chair, Supervisory Board, Management Committee and Executive Director
• Works at senior and all levels with business and academia (as well as other stakeholders)
• Responsible for leading content direction of the research agenda
• Officially remunerated (on a negotiable basis) for 1-day per week, but workload requires flexibility and often more 
  

If members would like to suggest a candidate, please can an official representative e-mail Viscount Davignon as Chair of the Supervisory Board – with a copy to Peter Lacy, EABIS Executive Director - in order to be able to process and inform the General Assembly. 

Join the EABIS European Knowledge Network on CSR & SMEs - initiative to progress towards bids for research grants

Conditions: Exploring collaborative external funding opportunites in SMEs and CSR under the EABIS umbrella
Selection criteria: Expertise & motivation
Grants: Available for academic members. Business members and affiliates are expected to cover their own travel costs
Mainstreaming: In line with its mission and partnership approach, EABIS especially encourages 'mainstream' academics in the field of small business & entrepreneurship to apply as well as EABIS business members and affiliates with a strong interest and expertise in CSR & SMEs related matters.
Application deadline: Friday 7 July 2006
Next steps: Applicants will be informed of selection on Wednesday 19 July
Further info & conditions: Read context document 
How to apply: Fill in the online application form

Please inform persons in your institute/organisation that you feel might be interested in applying.  

For more information ask bart.neerscholten@eabis.org or geoff.moore@durham.ac.uk

This initiative, part of the European Knowledge Network (formerly Category C) Funding Scheme of the EABIS Corporate Funded Programme, has been made possible due to the generous financial support of EABIS's founding corporate partners: IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Shell and Unilever.

EABIS members featured prominently at one of the most notable events in the field, the Ethical Corporation Corporate Responsibility Summit on Ethical Leadership, which took place in London on May 31 and June 1. The Summit, the largest of its kind in Europe, brought together a large number of the most important participants in the Corporate Responsibility discussion, including John Varley, Group CEO, Barclays and Alistair Baker, Managing Director, Microsoft, among others.

During the interactive presentations open to all participants, the RESPONSE Project, led by INSEAD, actively supported by our corporate founding partners (IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Shell and Unilever) and funded by the EU Commission featured exclusively in one session. EABIS members Maurizio Zollo (INSEAD), Elena Bonfiglioli (Microsoft) and Dirk Le Roy (Sustenuto) introduced the latest findings and content of the project, which is the only coordinated action research initiative in the field of CSR that is supported by the Commission.

Furthermore, one of the EABIS Corporate Funded Projects was the focus of two other sessions. Andrew Wilson from Ashridge was partnered by Executive Director Peter Lacy to discuss the development of knowledge, skills and competencies required for CR in mainstream management. This forum allowed them to profile the excellent in-depth research conducted by the Ashridge team on this subject over the past year. To learn more about the EABIS RESPONSE Project, please visit: www.insead.edu/ibis/research/project_response.cfm

The escalating social demands and the growing power of civil society groups have led to a considerably more challenging business environment, especially for multinational firms. As a consequence, social scientists have become increasingly interested in the non-market functions of business enterprises. The complexity of these new functions raises a number of fundamental questions, including:

1) What is the role of soft law in shaping corporate behaviour?

2) What is the role of non-governmental organisations and other non-market stakeholders in shaping corporate behaviour?

3) How is the interaction between companies and governments to be understood within the boundaries of social responsibility? In particular, what are the limits to lobbying processes placed by a common understanding of responsible behaviour?

To explore these questions, INSEAD Business in Society Center (IBiS) will hold a one-day workshop on "The Politics of Corporate Social Responsibility" on 3 July at INSEAD in Fontainbleau. This workshop will bring together leading academics with business leaders and government officials to discuss the role of non-market factors in shaping corporate behaviour. The workshop is part of the EU Platform for Excellence in CSR Research (CSR Platform) with the support of the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme.

If you would like to participate, simply send an e-mail to the following address before 20 June 2006. Please indicate your name, organisation, position and phone number.

We are delighted to share some important news with you. EABIS and the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) have recently formed a new Joint Advisory Board to better leverage each organisation’s capabilities to help shape future globally responsible leaders. The stepping up of the bilateral partnership and strategic relationship is expected to build an influential alliance for change that has both depth of content and scale.

The Joint Advisory Panel

The Joint Advisory Board’s remit will be to fully harness the complementary competencies of EABIS, Europe’s leading alliance on corporate responsibility research, education and training, and EFMD, a globally recognised leader in management education and accreditation standards for business schools. By leveraging each other’s capabilities, the panel will be able to provide business schools, researchers and policy makers with invaluable resources, expertise and guidance to develop curricula, knowledge and policies to meet the management needs of businesses.

The new panel will include key executives from both organisations including Professor Eric Cornuel, Director General of EFMD, Professor Gilbert Lenssen, President of EABIS, and Peter Lacy, Executive Director of EABIS. The panel will also include senior leaders from corporations and business schools across Europe.

The expanded relationship will also include future joint projects related to the creation of knowledge centres, closer coordination of resources and focused initiatives to make business in society issues a standard part of business school curricula in Europe.

Previous and Ongoing Collaborations

The Joint Advisory Board follows on the heels of what has been a very successful strategic relationship that, since 2003, has resulted in a number of important events, projects and collaborations (see below for examples) to bring issues surrounding the role of business in society to the forefront of management education, training and research agenda in Europe. Following is a list of some of our previous collaborations and joint efforts:

• Mapping the State of European Management Education – A collaborative study resulting in Europe’s first online directory of more than 170 business schools
• Integrating Corporate Responsibility into Accreditation Standards – Working together to incorporate business in society issues into EFMD’s accreditation standards
• EABIS’ Annual Colloquium – EFMD has served as a valuable partner and participant in EABIS’ annual Colloquium Journals and Publications – EABIS and EFMD have already worked on joint journal special editions and a “Green Book” on corporate responsibility is planned for 2007
• Shaping the European Research Agenda – Working together to promote corporate responsibility research and knowledge through EABIS’ CSR Platform
• Resource Centre – EABIS and EFMD are currently scoping out an online business and society gateway to provide members and others with access to key resources
• Governance Collaboration – Professor Cornuel is currently a member of the EABIS Supervisory Board and Professor Lenssen sits on EFMD’s Board

We look forward to developing this important relationship with EFMD across many different areas and well into the future.

The EABIS Team

Ashridge, one of Europe’s leading business schools, has recently announced the launch of its annual Best European MBA Essay Award. The competition is organised in partnership with the European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS) and this year it will be actively supported for the first time by Microsoft.

A European Knowledge Economy for the 21st Century
With Europe’s traditional economic, governmental and welfare models evolving, if not receding, in the societal context, the relationship between business and society is continually in question, as are the parameters of corporate citizenship. This year’s Ashridge MBA Essay competition aims to recognise the most thought-provoking essays written by current MBA students on the responsibilities of business in a knowledge economy.

The subject mirrors the European Commission’s Growth and Jobs Partnerships Agenda (2005), launched by President José Manuel Barroso to reinvigorate the framework for European economic growth outlined in the 2000 Lisbon Agenda. As President Barroso remarked at the March 2006 ESC-BEE Conference in Brussels: “Europe needs the best-educated and best-trained people who possess the skills needed in a ‘knowledge economy’. It also needs to stay ahead of the game by developing new products and services. Research and development in Europe needs to be more efficient and better coordinated, translating into innovative products and services.”

Academics – especially management educators at top MBA programmes such as Ashridge – have a pivotal role to play in this great undertaking. They must define and implement a business-relevant research agenda that contributes to economic growth and knowledge development. By extension, as teachers they must integrate insights and findings from this agenda across multiple disciplines to inform the next generation of corporate executives and managers.

Microsoft and Corporate Citizenship
For many years, Microsoft – which is also a founding partner of EABIS – has been at the forefront of exploring the role technology and learning can play in creating economic opportunity. As part of the company’s commitment to supporting the Lisbon Agenda’s Jobs and Growth Strategy, it has recently launched a pan-European partnership initiative to train 20 million people by 2010 with skills to improve education, employability and digital inclusion.

Supporting the Ashridge MBA Essay Award, and in particular this year’s subject, was a natural extension of Microsoft’s corporate citizenship. Goran Radman, Chairman of Microsoft South-East Europe, is delighted with the initiative: “We are very pleased to sponsor the Ashridge Award as a way to support research and knowledge development in fields that are at the frontier between technology and society. At Microsoft we are very interested to hear MBA perspectives, analysis and research on how the combination of responsible business practices, creative ideas and multi-stakeholder partnerships can make a difference to the goals of long term sustainable economic growth and social development.’

History of the Ashridge Essay Award
For the past seven years Ashridge has run the competition to further debate about the role of business in society and to do so in a way accessible to a wide audience, particularly to business leaders and public policy-makers. It also aims to raise awareness about the relevance of these issues to mainstream management education.

The 2006 MBA Essay Award will be judged by a distinguished panel, including:

• Viscount Etienne Davignon, Chairman, EABIS and Vice-Chair, Suez-Tractebel
• Odile Quintin, Director General, EU Commission Directorate for Education
• Jeanette Purcell, CEO, Association of MBAs
• Sir Paul Judge, Benefactor of the Judge Institute, Cambridge University
• Rachel Jackson, Head of Social & Environmental Issues, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
• Eric Cornuel, Director General, European Foundation for Management Development
• Margaret Studer, Vice-President, European HR, Cargill

Criteria and Further Information
The award is open to full or part-time students studying in an MBA programme during the 2005/2006 academic year at a European Business School. The winning essay will be chosen for its originality, relevant insights and depth of analysis. The student who writes the most exceptional essay will win the top prize of € 6,000 with a deserving runner-up receiving a prize of € 2,000. Both will be announced and presented at the 5th EABIS Annual Colloquium in Milan, Italy on September 11.

The closing date for entries is 31 July 2006. For further information on the award and details on how to enter, visit www.ashridge.com/acbas.

If you have an interesting idea or theme for an international research project, EABIS can help you to find partners and funding. The purpose of the Grant Scheme for Internal Networking is to encourage exploration of external funding opportunities on selected themes and topics of interest to EABIS and its membership. Applications are received year-round (EABIS members only) and review and approval are carried out on an ongoing basis. The first group of researchers have been awarded grants. The group will become EABIS' first Knowledge and Learning Network. In the first quarter of 2006 three grants have already been awarded. These networks are supported by EABIS Corporate Funded Research, Education and Training Programme (Category C). EABIS would like to thank IBM, Johnson and Johnson, Microsoft, Shell and Unilever for their generous support of this initiative.

For more information, please call +32-2-541 16 26, or e-mail Bart Neerscholten, EABIS Research Manager.