Shared Values: review of days 3 & 4

The day opened with Dr. Stefano Cavagnetto together with Bruce Gahir from Prague College presenting the growth and development of the arena of corporate social responsibility and its development within organizations. The focus of this talk was to present historical developments and provide some reasons why organizations may adopt the framework of CSR.

Pavla Kalousova from Business in Society (Czech Republic) developed this theme further, introducing several initiatives that are being developed within Czech companies to respond to the increasing demand from the EU for CSR activity reporting frameworks. The director of Prague College, Douglas Hajek then presented some important examples illustrating the effective integration of shareholder demands with social aims in the form of social enterprises and B-Corps.

The final day began with two illuminating lectures in which Tobias Webb from Ethical Corporation (UK) and Carollann Braum explored the ever-expanding roles of multinational organizations in a globalised environment where embedded sustainability and ethical frameworks are increasingly part of the makeup. They looked at corporate engagement and its relationship with startegies for sustainability in the context of wider stakeholder groups.  They were followed by Mark Harrison of the Association of Credit for Central and Eastern Europe, who stressed the importance for companies of investing in sufficient skills and competences to maintain a healthy business, and Remi Diligent, whose experience in the media and advertising service industry informed his talk on potential future models for openness and transparency in that arena.

Wrapping up the last day of the conference, Dr Geoffrey Klempner (UK), directed delegates to the philosophical foundations of the ethical debate. His talk raised important questions concerning what constitutes the truth in business - whether absolute or relative - and of the need to continue to ask that question in the context of the shifting business environments of today's world.