CHESTNUT HILL,BOSTON, - June 25, 2008 - The Boston College Carroll School of Management and its Center for Corporate Citizenship in conjunction with the UK-based AccountAbility and the United Nations Global Compact Office on June 26-27 will hold an international retreat for leading companies and academics.

During the two-day retreat on the campus of Boston College, some 14 global business leaders and several leading academics will examine ways businesses can align their operations and strategies with the UN Global Compact's 10 principles designed to guide business in the areas of the environment, anti-corruption, human rights and labor. The Boston College Center is organizing the meeting in association with the UN Global Compact, represented by Manuel Escudero, head of networks and academic initiatives; and Steve Rochlin, head of North America for AccountAbility, a UK-based organization that promotes responsible business practices.

The UN Global Compact, established in 2000, is the largest global corporate citizenship initiative in the world. Its objective is to encourage businesses to advance universal social and environmental principles. When the UN in 2007 created the Principles for Responsible Management Education Initiative, Boston College’s Carroll School of Management was one of the first business schools to sign on.

"It's time for companies to incorporate the UN principles into their management systems," said meeting host Bradley K. Googins, executive director of the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship. "Simply endorsing the 10 principles is not sufficient for a company that considers itself a global corporate citizen. Good intentions must be replaced by real action and sound management."

The global companies participating in the meeting at Boston College include: Accenture, GE, Coca-Cola, Dow, Nestle, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Royal Dutch Shell, CEMEX, BBVA, Infosys, Ketchum, Newmont Mining and Telefonica. Each company will provide best practice examples of how it integrates the principles throughout the business.

Representing Boston College's Carroll School of Management will be Sandra Waddock, professor of Management and senior research fellow for the Center for Corporate Citizenship; Bradley K. Googins, associate professor and executive director of the Center for Corporate Citizenship and Philip H. Mirvis, senior fellow for the Center for Corporate Citizenship.Other academic leaders participating include: Carolyn Woo, dean of the Mendoza School of Business at the University of Notre Dame; James P. Walsh, Gerald and Esther Carey Professor of Business Administration of Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan; David Cooperrider, director of University Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit at Weatherhead School of Business, Case Western Reserve University.

"Rigorous management approaches have a history of developing a clear framework that defines the pinnacle of performance excellence. Corporate responsibility must do the same," said AccountAbility's Joe Sellwood, managing director of the Global Leadership Network. " Companies sharing experience on how they are embedding the principles into core business processes is a vital step in this direction."

The UN Global Compact's 10 principles recommend that business:

• Support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights;
  
• Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses;
  
• Uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
  
• Eliminate all forms of forced and compulsory labor;
  
• Abolish child labor;
  
• Eliminate discrimination in respect to employment and occupation;
  
• Support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
  
• Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility;
  
• Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies;
  
• Work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

"The real challenge now is to learn and scale the process by which companies integrate in practical terms the Global Compact principles into their day-to-day management systems and business lines," said the UN Global Compact's Manuel Escudero. "This is especially relevant in multinational companies. The retreat will be a unique opportunity for Global Compact Office representatives and co-convening organizations, in the setting offered by Boston College, to listen and learn from the views and experiences of Global Compact leading companies."

Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship

Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship

The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship connects professionals with research, insights on corporate social responsibility and management education opportunities. Founded by the Carroll School of Management, we help our member companies know more, do more and achieve more with their corporate citizenship programs. We engage over 400 member companies and more than 10,000 individuals annually to share knowledge and expertise about the practice of corporate citizenship through our executive education program, research, courses, and our annual conference. For more information on our courses, research and membership, visit ccc.bc.edu. Connect with Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship: Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook & Google+.

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