The Council on Business & Society celebrates its 7^th year of existence with a special anniversary issue of its quarterly magazine Global Voice

June 21^st is a symbolic date – summer solstice and the year’s longest day of light – and it is no surprise that the Council’s magazine Global Voice will see a special anniversary issue published in web and print format on this day to celebrate the alliance’s seventh year of existence. Offering a podium for all those who believe that business can have a positive role to play in society, Global Voice puts the spotlight on the Council’s faculty, students and corporate partners.   Founded in 2011, the Council – or CoBS as it is known – now counts five schools across four continents, each recognised leaders in higher and executive education: ESSEC Business School, France, Asia-Pacific and Africa; FGV-EAESP, Brazil; School of Management Fudan University, China; Keio Business School, Japan; and special guest school Warwick Business School in the UK.  The end of the year will likely see a further two to three schools joining the alliance. The Council’s mission is to promote responsible leadership and business practices internally and externally to the alliance for the benefit of tomorrow’s future managers, leaders and practitioners, typically from a CSR and CSV perspective. Originally created to provide a forum for academics, business leaders and policy-makers to debate on issues at the crossroads of business and society, in 2017 the alliance widened its scope and re-oriented its activities to launch a number of in-the-field projects and initiatives.  These include faculty exchanges between the schools for CSR-oriented teaching and research assignments with a CoBS Responsible Leadership Certificate delivered to students at the host school, practical insights from business leaders on sustainable business practices, a shared learning repository gathering research-driven output as well as case studies, videos, articles and white papers with a CSR dimension, and a Young Leaders Impact Index (YLII) that plots the careers and viewpoints of graduates over a period of ten years. The CoBS, via its magazine and blog are open to contributions from faculty, students and practitioners alike and 2019 will see the launch of inter-school projects to bring students together in mixed teams to tackle a business and society issue. An alliance with a purpose, the road for the CoBS is long but the cause good. Reaching out to a quarter of a million people in 2017, the Council’s visibility looks set to reach nearly a million by end-2018. Enough to make a winter’s day shine for those at the crossroads of business and society.

Tom Gamble, Editor Global Voice magazine

• Download the June 21^st special issue of Global Voice magazine
• Discover the Council on Business & Society website
• Want to take part in the Council’s initiatives? Drop a line to gamble@essec.edu
• If you are a school or corporate partner interested in joining or contributing to the alliance, please contact Executive Director Prof. Christian Koenig @ koenig@essec.edu

Learn more about the Council on Business & Society

• Website: www.council-business-society.org
• Twitter: @The_CoBS
• LinkedIn: the-council-on-business-&-society

The Council on Business & Society (The CoBS), visionary in its conception and purpose, was created in 2011, and is dedicated to promoting responsible leadership and tackling issues at the crossroads of business and society including sustainability, diversity, ethical leadership and the place responsible business has to play in contributing to the common good.

In 2020, member schools now number 7, all “Triple Crown” accredited AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA and leaders in their respective countries.

• ESSEC Business School, France-Singapore-Morocco
• FGV-EAESP, Brazil
• School of Management Fudan University, China
• IE Business School, Spain
• Keio Business School, Japan
• Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
• Warwick Business School, United Kingdom.