We are very pleased to unveil today the Provisional Programme for the EABIS 6th Annual Colloquium (20-21 Sept, ESADE Business School, Barcelona), the world’s largest business-academic-stakeholder gathering on corporate responsibility issues in knowledge development and learning. This year’s conference takes as its theme “The Emerging Global Governance Paradigm: The Role of Business and its Implications for Companies, Stakeholders and Society".

A Pioneering Examination Of Global Governance

The 2007 Programme demonstrates how deeply this year’s Colloquium will look at the core issues of global governance and the role of business. We have structured the event around five exceptional content sessions: four plenary debates and the Education & Training Exchange, which will profile 30 best practices in management development from around the globe.

The pivotal plenary sessions link together to address the major issues in global governance from four different but vital perspectives:

• The Context of Global Governance and the Role of Business in Society
• New Forms of Global Governance – Self Regulation, Voluntary Standards and Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships
• Business, Global Governance and Global Issues – The Challenges and Opportunities of Climate Change
• New Kinds of Leadership for Global Governance and the Implications for Management Development

A Platform for International Thought Leadership

This year’s conference has attracted some of the most respected international voices in the global governance arena. Prominent speakers & panelists from across Europe, the US and Brazil include:

• Antonio Brufau Niubó, Chairman & CEO, Repsol
• Hans Ulrich Maerki, Chairman (EMEA), IBM
• Dr. Lex Holst, Global Vice President, Shell International
• Dr. Maria Luiza Pinto, Executive Director, ABN AMRO Real (* tbc)
• Dr. Andrew White, Managing Director, Innovest
• Georg Kell, Executive Director, UN Global Compact
• Daniel Litvin, Managing Director, C-Resource and Author of “Empires of Profit: Commerce, Conquest and Corporate Responsibility”
• Chris Marsden, Chair, Amnesty International Business Group
• Prof. Anders Aspling, Secretary General, GRLI and Dean, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School
• Prof. Robert E. Keohane, Public & International Affairs Department, Princeton University
• Prof. Xavier Mendoza, Dean, ESADE
• Jordi Canals, Dean, IESE
• Frank Brown, Dean, INSEAD
• Dr. Polly Courtice, Director, University of Cambridge Programme for Industry
• Prof. Ans Kolk, Research Director, University of Amsterdam Business School
• Prof. Atle Midttun, Centre for Corporate Citizenship Director, BI Norway

These senior figures reflect not only the multi-stakeholder ethos of the conference, but also surpass the Colloquium’s demanding standards for relevance, experience, insight and diversity of opinion.

New Innovations To Showcase Outstanding Content

Shaped by feedback from previous Colloquia, we have also set out to introduce a number of significant innovations in terms of format and process. Our objective is understandably to use these to deliver added value to all participants by raising the bar on the levels of input and interaction. These include, among others:

• Online tools to submit plenary questions on global governance
• New “Question Time” session incorporating pre-conference and in-conference input and break-out groups
• Dedicated audience Q&A session for opening keynotes
• Inaugural EABIS World Café to celebrate international collaboration
• Competitive selection for Education & Training Exchange initiatives
• Participant voting for brand new Education & Training Exchange prizes

Beyond the high level plenary sessions, participants will enjoy the following spectrum of debate, networking and activity in Barcelona:

• European Unveiling of the UN Global Compact Principles for Management Education
• Over 90 Cutting Edge Academic Papers and Practitioner Presentations
• Gala Dinner with International Awards Ceremony and Cocktail Receptions
• Annual PhD Conference hosted by IESE Business School Public
• Launch of 2 EABIS Special Issue Publications

Registration Details

We are now less than two months away from the event and over 50% of available places have already been taken, with the remainder in increasing demand. As such, we invite those of you who have not done so yet to register online to secure your place & accommodation before the summer break. For the Colloquium registration details please click here.

Best wishes for the summer holidays and we look very much forward to seeing you in Barcelona!

We are pleased to acknowledge the significant contributions that the EABIS Academic Network will make to the international corporate responsibility research domain at the upcoming Academy of Management 2007 Annual Conference ("Doing Well by Doing Good"), the world’s largest academic gathering around management knowledge development and research.

Prominent Platforms for EABIS Members

We briefly wanted to draw attention to some of the Network-related highlights of the conference. The first of these is a prestigious Academy Symposium session for EABIS’ RESPONSE Project, the world’s largest research activity on corporate responsibility and strategic stakeholder management. Research Director Maurizio Zollo (INSEAD) will discuss the early findings of the project, which was actively supported by our corporate founding partners – IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Shell and Unilever – and funded by the EU Commission.

Other EABIS academic members playing key roles include Ans Kolk (Director of Research, Amsterdam), who will chair a session on global business and climate change policy, and Martin Hall (Deputy Vice Chancellor, Cape Town), who will moderate a session on BOP strategies and practices. We also want to acknowledge IESE, the Center for Creative Leadership, University of Nottingham and University of Waikato for their strong engagement in the organization of pre-conference Professional Development Workshops.

• To identify EABIS’ Members organizing and/or chairing sessions click here
• For a list of paper presentations & presentations from network members click here

Finally, the EABIS central team will be represented by Executive Director Peter Lacy, who will speak during one of the major plenary sessions of the conference on “Corporations and the 21st Century: How Do Today’s Companies Need to Change to Meet Tomorrow’s Need?", alongside distinguished colleagues such as Simon Zadek, Jane Nelson, James Post, Allen White and Mark Goyder.

The Tip of the Iceberg

These honorable mentions are not exhaustive as they were compiled in line with corporate responsibility issues and debate. We therefore wish to congratulate all of our Members who will feature in the programme, representing their institutions across all management disciplines in an amazing number of fora. We strongly encourage those attending the conference to consider the referenced sessions and presentations as you define your programmes.

For more information on the Academy of Management conference overall, please click here.