The Cranfield Corporate Responsibility Network is open to faculty, students, associates, alumni and partners - and is an open forum.
Meetings of the Network are held roughly every month. They are a mixture: some provide a platform for Cranfield students and faculty to present their research and test out ideas; others involve visiting speakers and provide an opportunity to explore new issues in Corporate Responsibility and potential research topics / sources. All meetings are intended to be highly participatory and facilitate good networking.
Kirk O. Hanson is Executive Director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University and University Professor of Organizations and Society, positions he has held since 2001. In 2001, he took early retirement from Stanford University where he taught in the Graduate School of Business for 23 years and is now an emeritus faculty member.
The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics is one of the most active ethics centers in the United States, working in the fields of business, government, and health care ethics,as well as in K-12 character education. Hanson coordinates the work of 15 scholars and staff who work directly for the center and 50 faculty who are affiliated with it. Its affiliated faculty work on all aspects of applied and professional ethics.
At Stanford from 1978 through 2001, Hanson was Senior Lecturer in Business Administration and a pioneer in the study of business ethics and business responsibility. He wasalso Faculty Director of the Stanford Sloan Program, Stanford’s masters program for mid-career executives. He taught in Stanford’s MBA and Executive Programs throughout his Stanford career.
Hanson writes on managing the ethical and public behavior of corporations. He co-edited a four-volume series released in 2006 entitled The Accountable Corporation. Hiscurrent research interests include the design of corporate ethics programs and the responsibilities of boards for the ethical culture of the organization.
He was the founding president of The Business Enterprise Trust, a national organization created by leaders in business, labor, media and academia to promote exemplary behavior inbusiness organization; the first Chairman of the Santa Clara County Political Ethics Commission; and has written a weekly column on workplace ethics for the San Jose Mercury News. He has served on the boards of the Social Venture Network and Students for Responsible Business, national organizations; and of American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley. He served on the Advisory Board ofthe Markkula Center for Applied Ethics from 1995 until his appointment to head the center. He has twice chaired Stanford’s Committee on Investment Responsibility which advises the Stanford Board of Trustees on social investment issues.
Hanson currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Skoll Community Fund and the advisory board of the Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of Silicon Valley. In October 2005 he was appointed the Honorary Chair of the Center for International BusinessEthics in Beijing, China’s first center for the study of business ethics.
Prof. Hanson is agraduate of Stanford University and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.He has held graduate fellowships and research appointments at the Yale Divinity School and the Harvard Business School.
Following on from a career in the NGO sector, Ros has been working with the International Business Leaders' Forum (IBLF) since 1991 pioneering the organisation''s cross-sector partnership work. She has experience of developing partnerships for sustainable development in more than 25 countries working with international corporations, the United Nations, governments and a wide range of civil society organisations.
Mr de Rivaz will talk aboutt he challenges and opportunities associated with embedding sustainability successfully and profitably in EDF Energy. He will discuss his new report and the skills which managers need for sustainability.
Vincent de Rivaz is the Chief Executive of EDF Energy, which incorporated British Energy from 5thJanuary 2009. He had previously led the creation of EDF Energy through the merger of former London Electricity Group and Seeboard in 2003. EDF Energy, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of EDF group, is now one of the UK’s leading energy companies. Mr de Rivaz was appointed member of the Executive Committee of EDF Group in December 2004. A Hydroelectric Engineer, he joined EDF in 1977 in the External Engineering Centre which managed the construction of energy sites for international clients, being part of several initiatives in Africa, Guyana and New Caledonia.
Mr de Rivaz was awarded The Energy Institute’s 71st Melchett Award in June 2006. The Melchett Award is one of the Energy Institute's most prestigious prizes and is presented to an individual for an outstanding contribution whether in research,administration, construction or other professional activity, involving the scientific preparation or use of fuel and energy. He has recently been selected to receive the Grade of “Chevalier” Legion d’honneur” and has also been named as the Prince of Wales’s Business in the Community Ambassador.
Sir Crispin Tickell as had a distinguished diplomatic career. He was Chef de Cabine to the President of the European Commission (1977-1980), British Ambassador to Mexico (1981-1983), Permanent Secretary of the Overseas Development Administration(now Department for International Development)(1984-1987), and British Ambassador to the United Nations and Permanent Representative on the UN Security Council(1987-1990).
He was warden of Green College, Oxford between 1990 and 1997. He is currently director of the Policy Foresight Programme of the James Martin 21st Century School at the University of Oxford (formerly the Green College Centre for Environmental Policy and Understanding) and Chairman Emeritus of the Climate Institute, in Washington DC. He has many interests, including climate change, population issues,conservation of biodiversity and the early history of the Earth. He helped to write Margaret Thatcher’s keynote speech on Climate Change in 1988. He is President of Cranfield University SAFAD.
In partnership with Skoll, Oxford and LBS, Stephen Green - chairman of HSBC and author of "Good Value - reflections on money markets in an uncertain world" will be giving the first of our annual Pears Foundation Business School Partnership lectures in 21 June at LBS.
The Pears Business Schools Partnership, launched in June 2009, in conjunction with three leading UK Business Schools (Cranfield School of Management, London Business School and Said Business School) has been established to promotepersonal philanthropy and Corporate Responsibility within the MBA curriculum.The Partnership, which will run for an initial period of three years, will focus on the development of new case studies and course materials and the establishment of an annual philanthropy lecture.
Social Intrapreneurship - The Yunus Inside
On 25th February AmyFetzer and Heiko Spitzeck led a discussion on social intrepreneurship.
Innovators working inside organizations have long been called intrapreneurs. The originsof intrapreneurship an be traced back to a 1976 article in the Economist by Norman Macrae on “The Coming Entrepreneurial Revolution”. The original proposition was to foster innovation within organizations by establishing competitive profit-centres. However, recently a new species of intrapreneurs has been discovered - ones that are not just driven by business success but also by societal impact. They are not motivated primarily by monetary gain; instead they are inspired by a desire to drive real transformation.
SustainAbility terms these innovators ‘Social Intrapreneurs’ - people working inside major corporations or organizations to develop and promote practical solutions tosocial or environmental challenges. After publication many readers spontaneously responded: “Now I finally have a term for describing what I am!” Social Intrapreneurs create innovations whichare both socially and financially beneficial by leveraging the resources and capabilities of their organizations. Amy Fetzer has followed Social Intrapreneurs in the field and featured some examples in her book on "Climb the Green Ladder:make your company and career more sustainable". The book is available from the Cafe Bookshop on the Cranfield campus.
Amy's work aims to empower to make a difference by giving people the tools to change their organisations from within, to set them on more successful and sustainable paths. For more information please visit http://climbthegreenladder.com/.
Heiko Spitzeck runs a network of Social Intrapreneurs in London to help them realize their projects and participates in the Social Intrapreneurship Lab run by SustainAbility.
Click here to hear an audio recording of the seminar.
Creating Marks and Spencer's Plan A for Sustainability
On 21 January 2010 Robert Nuttall and Mike Barry of M&S gave a talk on 21 January as part of the School of Management's Green Week and the Cranfield Corporate Responsibility Network lecture series. M&S 100-point 'eco-plan' has been hugely successful in showcasing how being corporately responsible and sustainable can be cash positive as well as delivering organisational, societal and environmental benefits. As essential leaders of Plan A, Robert and Mike shared their insights and lessons learned.
Mike Barry is Sustainable Development Manager at Marks & Spencer. He is responsible for co-ordinating the company’s journey towards a more sustainable business model. His work is broadly divided into three parts: listening to and prioritising stakeholder expectations of M&S, integrating them intocorporate strategy and working with business units and suppliers to deliver more sustainable products. Robert Nuttall is a Cranfield alumnus and Managing-Director of Green Mandate. Robert has over 20 years’ in-house experience working in senior communications and change roles for organisations including Marks & Spencer, Cable & Wireless, GlaxoSmithKline, the BBC and Citigroup. Whilst at M&S, he played a key role in devising and implementing the internal and external brand and communications strategy for ‘Plan A’, one of the most comprehensive and acclaimed corporate sustainability programmes in the UK. A recording will be available shortly.
Innovating from business NGO partnerships
On 14 July 2009 Sara Holmes, current Cranfield Executive Doctorate student, presented findings from her three year research study into how UK companies innovate through their relationship with social issues charities.
The presentation used a selection of mini case studies to highlight key factors which appear to have helped the firms involved realise innovative benefits from such partnerships and will discuss what companies and charities) can do to ensure productive collaborations.
Click here to see the slides.
A sustainable cup of coffee
On 16 June 2009 Gabriela Alvarez (Nespresso) and Mercedes Tallo (Rainforest Alliance) gave a presentation on "A sustainable cup of coffee". Click to view Mercedes Tallo's presentation. Click here to view Gabriella Alvarez.s presentation. Click here for an audio recording of the lecture. Click here for a video recording.
Has CSR got a future?
On 11 May 2009 David Logan give the final of a series of four Doughty Centre lectures on seminal turning points in corporate responsibility history such as:
- Slavery, Opium trade and other early corporate crimes
- The British East India Company
- Cadburys: from Bourneville to Green and b(l)ack (sic)
- Leadership and Values - the Levi Strauss experience
- Understanding the total footprint of business: Unilever and India
- Business and cultures of capitalism - CR in Islamic and other worlds
- Vodafone and other examples of companies finding opportunities from CR
- Dynamite India - factory closure ICI
Click here to see the slides. Click here for an audio recording and here for a video of the event.
David Logan is Co-Chairman of Corporate Citizenship (www.corporate-citizenship.com) and one of the 23 individuals from North America and Europe featured in "The Difference Makers: How social and institutional entrepreneurs created the Corporate Responsibility Movement" by Sandra Waddock (2007: www.greenleaf-publishing.com/productdetail.kmod?productid=2688)
David began working on corporate responsibility in 1980 when he joined Levi Strauss & Co in Europe. He later became Director of Special Programs based in San Francisco, where he researched and managed a wide range of ethics, community, social responsibility and environmental concerns worldwide. From 1988 he consulted in the field in the USA and in 1996, was a co-founder of The Corporate Citizenship Company in London.
He has worked extensively on corporate social responsibility issues in Europe, the USA and more than 30 emerging markets of Africa, Asia and Latin America. He advises on CSR and sustainability strategy and has done pioneering work in management and social reporting systems to, measure and report corporate responsibility across all company stakeholders.
Project work has been undertaken globally for companies such as Unilever, Diageo and Vodafone, and in local markets for Ford India and Guinness Nigeria. His work for Cadbury Schweppes has included visiting five pilot countries to review the company's application of their human rights and ethical trading policy. For Unilever his work has included advising on business codes and principles, writing the first Social Review in 2000 based on the global CSR Self-Assessment survey of 9 countries and helping manage the joint study with Oxfam on the impact of Unilever Indonesia. He has published several studies on issues like the impact of HIV/AIDS on business and how the lack of healthcare impacts on the productivity of women workers in developing countries. He also co-wrote "Corporate Citizenship: Rationale and Strategies" for the Hitachi foundation in the USA.
David is a graduate of London University, with an MA degree in Philosophy and an Advanced Diploma in Education. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of the National College of Ireland, and a Visiting Fellow in corporate philanthropy at the City University, New York. David's earlier career included a vice-presidency of the National Union of Students, the Trade Union Congress and playing a key role in the successful campaign in the 1970s to preserve Covent Garden from the bulldozers.
Responsibility and Internationalization: Developing CR Strategy to Prevent Crises
On 22 April 2009 Patrick Reinmoeller, Professor of Strategic Management at Cranfield School of Management gave a presentation on Responsibility and Internationalization: Developing CR Strategy to Prevent Crises
Patrick's research interests include (a)international strategy, (b) management practices and concepts, (c) Asian corporations and corporations in Asia. He teaches Executive MBA courses, Full Time MBA courses and customized company modules on Corporate Strategy, Competitive Strategy, Knowledge Management and International Strategy. As Visiting Professor at ICS and IIR, Hitotsubashi University(Tokyo), LIUC University Castellanza (Italy) and St Gallen University (Switzerland) he has lead workshops with practitioners, graduate students and PhD seminars. He is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, International Journal of Strategic Change Management. He reviews for Academy of Management Review,Organization Science, Organization Studies, MIT Sloan Management, Journal of Management Studies, and other leading journals, and he has won reviewer awards at the Academy of Management. He is active in executive education and consulting in the areas of strategy development,implementation, and innovation. He has worked with organizations such as AtosOrigin, Barr, GSK Biologicals, IAEA, KPN, Philips, Schlumberger and others. Before joiningErasmus University he served as a faculty member of the Graduate School of Knowledge Science, Japan Advanced Institute ofScience and Technology after completing his post-doc research at the Institute ofInnovation Research, Hitotsubashi University. Patrick was educated in Italy,Japan and Germany. Hereceived his PhD (cum laude) at the University of Cologne in 1995.
Click here for the slides and here for an audio recording.
Risk Governance: towards improved acountability in the environmental goods and services sector
On 26th March 2009 Professor Simon Pollard from the Centre of Waste and Environmental Risk Management at the School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University spoke on "Risk Governance: towards improved acountability in the environmental goods and services sector."
Simon is Professor of Environmental Risk Management and Head of the Sustainable Systems Department at Cranfield University. Trained in chemistry and environmental risk management, he is an editor for Science of the Total Environment handling submissions in risk and policy, and holds a Visiting Chair at the University of South Australia. Set in the School of Applied Sciences, Simon’s department manages £7.5m of world-class research, teaching and consultancy in water, waste and energy science, engineering and management. Since 2002, Simon has secured £4.7m of grant income as principal investigator from industrial, Government and Research Council sources. He has a 20-year international career in environmental risk with academia, consultancy and regulation, and was formerly Head of Risk Analysis and Risk Policy at the Environment Agency (1998-2002). Click here to view the presentation. Click here for an audio recording and here for a video of this event.
Why CR? From data to decision making
On 16 March 2009 David Logan gave the third in a series of four Doughty Centre Lectures on seminal turning points in corporate responsibility history. The lecture examined the importance of core values, the emergence of global values, values and stakeholders, measuring and managing CSR performance and the importance of benchmarking. Click to see the slides and an audio recording. Click here for a video recording of the event.
Sustainable Innovation
On 5 March 2009 Cranfield Corporate Responsibility Network hosted a presentation by Dennis Pamlin, Global Policy Advisor, WWF on sustainable innovation with a focus on the role information and communication technology can play in reducing climate change. Dennis is a renowned expert on climate change and initiated WWF’s work on Informationand Communications Technology (ICT) and sustainability in 2000. His advice is sought after by several governments and companies and he has been working with HP on climate change projects for over a year.
Students were invited to submit essays on "Sustainable Innovation: Creating Value fromthe shift to a low carbon economy” for the Ashridge Sustainable InnovationAward. Ashridge, in association with theEuropean Academy of Business and Society (EABIS) and with the support of HPand WWF,are running a competition to find the best ideas from management and other post-graduate students about how organisations can innovate to create value from the shift to a low carbon economy. The three students who provide the best submissions as judged by a distinguished panel will be awarded with a cashprizeand career advice from representatives of Spencer Stuart, the global executive search consultants. The winner will also receive a mentorship with HP.
Click here for an audio recording and here for a video of the event.
Why CR? Making the case from righteousness to riches
On 12th January 2009 the Doughty Centre hosted the second in a series of four lectures by David Logan on seminal turning points in corporate responsibility history. Click here to see the slides. Click here for the breeze recording.
Corporate Responsibility in the Public Sector - practical examples from Her Majesty's Customs and Excise
On 9th December 2008, Judy Greevy. Head of Corporate Responsibility and Diversity at HMRC, gaver a presentation on "Corporate Responsibility in the Public Sector - practical examples from Her Majesty's Customs and Excise"
Judy is Head of Corporate Responsibility and Diversity at HMRC having joined the Department in November 2007. Prior to this Judy ran her own consultancy working in the areas of diversity and corporate responsibility undertaking work in both the private and public sectors. Clients included HBOS. Ernst and Young, Standard Chartered Bank, DCLG and NHS Scotland. Judy has held a number of senior roles in the private sector including Director of Diversity and Corporate Responsibility at Centrica plc, Group Head of Diversity at NatWest and Head of Diversity at AMP. She also worked in the Cabinet Office for Baroness Jay in the Women and Equality Unit. She is a member of the diversity panel at the Ministry of Defence and is on the Board of the Employers' Forum on Age. Click here for a breeze recording of the lecture.
Corporate Responsibility: from Babylon to Bhopal
On 24 November 2008 David Logan gave the first in a series of four Doughty Centre lectures on seminal turning points in Corporate Responsibility history. His title was "Corporate Responsibility: from Babylon to Bhopal." Click here for the presentation. Click here for a breeze recording of the lecture.
A Matter of Language - Practical Business Ethic
On 11 November 2008 Philippa Foster Back OBE, Director, Institute for Business Ethics led a session on on "A Matter of Language - Practical Business Ethic". Click here for a breeze recording of the lecture.
Corporate Responsibility in a Collapsing World
On 29 October 2008 Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director, Forum for the Future and Chair of the UK Government's Sustainable Development Commission gave a lecture on "Corporate Responsibility in a Collapsing World". Click here to view his presentation; click here to view a video of the lecture; click here to view a video of the questions and answers following his lecture.
Is fair-trade labelling fair?
On 19 June 2008 Dr Iain Davies led a discussion on "Is fair-trade labelling fair?".
[Audio Recording(mp3)][Powerpoint Presentation]
Reporting Sustainable Performance
On 4 June 2008, Dr Ruth Bender led a discussion on Reporting Sustainable Performance. The session addressed the relationship between corporate responsibility and shareholder value, before going on to discuss global trends and current best practices in social and environmental reporting.
China Road. A journey into the future of a rising power
On 18th April 2008, Rob Gifford, London Correspondent for National Public Radio (USA) spoke about his book "China Road. A journey into the future of a rising power." Click here for a video recording of this event.
Performance Measurement and Disclosure
On 14 April 2008 Professor Andy Neely gave a presentation on Performance Measurement and Disclosure. Please click here to view his slides.
Principles of Responsible Management Education
On 25 February 2008 Susan Vinnicombe and Richard Kwiatkowski led a seminar on the Principles of Responsible Management Education which were developed under the auspices of the UN Global Compact. Click here for details of the principles. Launched by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in July 2007, Cranfield was one of the first ten business schools to sign up for the principles of responsible management education. This meeting will provide an opportunity for faculty and students to discuss how best the School of Management can implement the principles and what successful implementation would look like.
Discussion document(Word)
Marks and Spencer's Plan A
On 26 February 2008 Katie Stafford, Marks and Spencer's Sustainable Business Manager gave a presentation on Marks and Spencer's Plan A and the challenges of implementing it. Plan A is a series is a series of more than 100 commitments on climate change, sustainability, healthy living and ethical business practice. It has attracted global interest and a string of business awards. Please click here for an update on the first year of Plan A.
Embedding Corporate Responsibility in a Global Business
On 11th December 2007 Geoffrey Bush, Chair of the Diageo Foundation and, until recently, Global Corporate Citizenship Director of Diageo, led a discussion on embedding corporate responsibility in a global business(mp3).
Corporate Responsibility and Islamic Values
On Friday July 13th Najeeb Al-Ali (Cranfield DBA student and Director of Dubai Centre for Corporate Values) and David Logan (Partner, The Corporate Citizenship Company) gave a seminar on Corporate Responsibility and Islamic Values - how does CR relate to Islamic values and practice?"
Islam and Corporate Responsibility (Powerpoint - 2mb)
Islam and Business (Powerpoint - 594kb)
CRI Meeting
On Tuesday 12th June 2007 Patrick Mallon, Director of the Corporate Responsibility Index (CRI) gave a seminar entitled CRI - an untapped goldmine of how FTSE 100 companies are integrating Corporate Responsibility? Click here to download the Powerpoint presentation.
Business in the Community's CRI enables companies to benchmark their integration of Corporate Responsibility. Details of the top 100 companies are published annually in the Sunday Times as "Companies that Count" - May 6th 2007.