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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
4.13.2005 ET
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European Academy of Business in Society Launches 1m Euro Research, Education and Training Partnership Programme on Corporate Responsibility with Business Support
(CSRwire) The European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS) - an alliance of
leading companies and business schools working together on corporate
responsibility - today launched a 1 million euro, 3 year partnership
programme on research, education and training. Topics covered by the 7
initial projects include a broad range of issues such as stakeholder
management, measuring the business case, social entrepreneurship, the role
of government, the bottom of the pyramid, management skills, MBA curriculum
development and executive training.
The launch comes at a time when corporate responsibility is rapidly moving
up the management education agenda in business schools and companies are
increasingly stressing the need to develop new knowledge and skills for
current and future leaders on this topic. The programme aims to meet these
challenges and to accelerate the integration of corporate responsibility
into the heart of business theory and practice. The launch marks an
important milestone for EABIS as it continues to highlight and support the
development of corporate responsibility in Europe.
EABIS' founding corporate partners, IBM, Johnson & Johnson,
Microsoft, Shell and Unilever will each contribute
70k EUR per year for the next 3 years in support of the initiative.
Speaking on the day of the launch, Patrick de Smedt, Chairman of
Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa said:"Whilst corporate
responsibility remains high on the agenda for most leaders, there is an
urgent need for more and better knowledge and skills on the changing role
of business in society. To ensure that current and future managers are
equipped to meet this challenge, partnerships between companies and
business schools are critical. Microsoft and the other founding corporate
partners of EABIS are proud to support the launch of the first wave of
research, education and training projects on a broad range of vital and
relevant issues for business. It marks an important step forward, not only
for EABIS and its members, but in supporting the development of corporate
responsibility in Europe." To ensure strong business relevance and
high academic quality, company representatives and faculty members assessed
15 initial proposals. The 10 successful institutions represent some of
Europe's leading business schools and span 7 countries:-
Ashridge (GB)
- Copenhagen Business School (DK)
- Cranfield School of Management (GB)
- ESADE Business School (ES)
- IESE Business School (ES)
- London Business School (GB)
- Norwegian School of Management (NO)
- SDA Bocconi (IT)
- Vlerick Leuven Gent School of Management (BE)
- University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration Zurich
(CH)
Speaking about her institution's leadership of the flagship
MBA curriculum development project, Prof. Laura Tyson, Dean of
London Business School said:"This launch represents a
unique opportunity for business schools and companies to collaboratively
integrate corporate responsibility into business theory and practice. The
leadership role of London Business School in the EABIS curriculum
development project confirms our belief in the need to embed corporate
responsibility issues into the core of management education. The project
will play a crucial role in equipping tomorrow's leaders to respond to the
needs of a complex global market place." The programme comes at a
time when corporate responsibility, leadership development and management
education are increasingly in the limelight both in companies and in
academia. Increasing interest in the links between these topics have seen
EABIS expand rapidly from 15 to more than 50 leading companies, business
schools and international organisations in the last 18 months. Asked about
the importance of the programme, Peter Lacy, Executive Director of
EABIS said:"The launch of the programme comes at a crucial time
when discussions on the relationship between corporate responsibility and
management education are currently centre stage amongst business leaders,
academics, policy-makers, civil society and the business media. It
recognises the need for tangible, results-driven partnerships. It aims to
equip current and future leaders with the knowledge and skills to manage
the complexity of modern business in a way that creates value for both
shareholders and society at large. EABIS continues to be a learning
journey for all concerned and we look forward to producing high quality
results in this next exciting phase." The programme follows EABIS'
launch last September of 2 projects - "CSR Platform" and "RESPONSE" - worth
2 million euros, as part of the European Commission's Sixth Framework
Research Programme. It is also a response to calls from the
European Commission "Multistakeholder Forum on CSR" (July 2004) and
the "European Business Roadmap" on CSR (March 2005) for business
schools to play an active role in developing current and future leaders on
corporate responsibility as a contribution to the European Union's
Lisbon agenda.
Results from 1 year projects and initial findings from 3yr projects are
expected spring 2006. Executive summaries of the projects are attached in
PDF format. Additional information is available on EABIS' website: www.eabis.orgwww.eabis.org
About The European Academy of Business in Society
EABIS is a unique alliance of more than 50 companies, business schools,
business networks and other stakeholders, with the support of the European
Union Commission, committed to integrating corporate responsibility into
the mainstream of business theory and practice in Europe. For more
information on members and activities visit: www.eabis.org
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