In mid-July London Business School hosted the third of an international series of forums addressing major areas of research and practice under the broader theme of Corporate Responsibility and Global Business. Through a series of moderated panel discussions, keynote lectures and paper presentations, the conference focused on the impact of said contexts on corporate and marketing strategy. Of particular relevance to those present were issues of fair trade: panelists and speakers examined the responsibility of multinational companies to build fair practice and policy into their integrated strategic models and to what extent a business case can be built for such behaviour.

Over 50 academic papers were presented on contemporary themes linking corporate responsibility issues to various Marketing disciplines. Sessions covered cutting-edge topics such as conscience consumerism, mainstreaming corporate responsibility, and marketing strategies for the bottom of the pyramid, and keynote panels addressed two fundamental business issues - the extent of the business case for corporate responsibility and the marketing of fair trade products. Other highlights of the event were the keynote presentations given Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman and CEO of Nestlé S.A., Craig Sams, President of Green and Black’s, and Simon Zadek, Chief Executive of AccountAbility and Senior Fellow, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

The forum was co-sponsored by Nestlé, the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program, California Management Review, Haas Business School Centre for Responsible Business and Boston University School of Management. Full event information can be downloaded from the conference website.

For some of the business members who may be less familiar, the Academy of Management is the world’s most prestigious group of management scholars and Business Policy and Strategy is one of its top divisions. EABIS is delighted to announce that this summer, during the Annual Conference in Atlanta, both strategy projects under the EABIS research pillar will be presented: the INSEAD led, EU funded project, “Understanding and Responding to Societal Expectation (RESPONSE)” which
uses a unique business-academic collaborative research design and is currently the world’s largest research project in this area and the Zurich led “Stakeholder View of the Firm” project sponsored by EABIS’ founding corporate partners Unilever, Shell, IBM, Microsoft and J&J.

This is a deserved, timely and highly noteworthy recognition of how Corporate Responsibility issues are penetrating the mainstream of strategic thought. It is also an acknowledgement of the major efforts made by RESPONSE Project Leader Maurizio Zollo (INSEAD) and other leading colleagues to achieve change in the “old” agenda. Session details are:

RESPONSE – “Knowledge, Action and Public Concern: Strategy Theory and Corporate
Responsibility” – 14 July, 8.30am

• Jay Barney – Ohio State University
• Maurizio Zollo – INSEAD (project lead)
• Antonio Tencati – SDA Bocconi
• Steven White – INSEAD
• Kai Hockerts – Copenhagen Business School

Stakeholder View of the Firm – “Competitive Advantage: Towards a Stakeholder Orientation in Strat. Management” - 14 July, 4.10pm
• Sybille Sachs - Zurich University of Applied Sciences (project co-lead)
• Edwin Ruehli - Zurich University of Applied Sciences (project co-lead)
• Marc Maurer – Zurich University of Applied Sciences

There is also a whole day on this topic and many other EABIS members will be presenting, including Lance Moir – Cranfield and EABIS current Academic Chair and Andrew Millington and Stephen Brammer - Bath School of Management, as well as a number of leading figures from the strategy field.

We must also acknowledge the role that Maurizio Zollo and other EABIS members will play in the Strategic Management Society Annual Conference in Vienna. The Strategic Management Society is the world’s leading specialist body bringing together reflective practitioners and scholars and an important body in the field in shaping thought leadership. EABIS Academic Vice-Chair and lead of the RESPONSE project, Maurizio Zollo will be leading a “Common Ground” session on corporate responsibility with several EABIS members.

Session Title: “Corporate Social Responsibility and Performance: Can CSR be a Source of
Advantage?”
Day: Tuesday, October 31
Time: 17:00 - 18:45
Facilitator: Maurizio Zollo – INSEAD
EABIS Member Speakers:
• Francesco Perrini – SDA Bocconi
• Clodia Vurro – SDA Bocconi
• Michael Yajizi – IMD
• Don Antunes - IMD

Whilst there is a long road ahead, these are important developments. Perhaps all of this
momentum - coupled with the activities of many of the big consultancies waking up in this area - might even mean that 2006 becomes the year business in society issues seriously start to enter mainstream strategic management?

For now, we would like to congratulate all of those involved and all members for playing a
significant role in advancing the debate based on robust theory and practical business value through EABIS’ knowledge development and research pillar and their own activities. We look forward to seeing and hearing the results.

An interesting article that might be of interest for EABIS members has been published in the Financial Times on July 25, 2006. Summary is provided below:

An inquiry backed by 11 leading businesses to find common rules for international companies launched today.

Read full article here (you have to be a subscriber to the FT site) or check print edition of FT.  

Alternatively, read the article and press release from Tomorrow's Company website: http://www.tomorrowscompany.com/global/default.aspx

Inquiry of Tomorrow's Company: http://www.tomorrowscompany.com/global/discussion.aspx

EABIS members are encouraged to respond to the inquiry.