As businesses start to look beyond the COVID-19 crisis, this event seeks to identify the areas of risk related to the social responsibility of business. Following the recent publication of the Ernst & Young (EY) Global Integrity Report, EY claimed the pandemic will lead, optimistically, to improved business ethics. Looking deeper into the data, EY found that – actually – only 21 per cent of junior employees appeared to agree, whilst the majority (53 per cent) of junior employees were not confident that their management abides by relevant laws, codes of conduct and industry regulations. In addition, 13 per cent of EY’s respondents were prepared to ignore irresponsible business conduct to boost their own career or pay, with the figure rising to 20 per cent among directors. These discrepancies, we will discuss, are likely subtle signals of more dangerous problems lurking which may jeopardise the performance, and even survival of firms in a post-pandemic world. But is social, environmental and economic uncertainty really the new normal? Or did the crisis ‘wake up’ stakeholders to the issues underlying the business reality?
This webinar is aimed at anyone interested in ethical and unethical business practice. Hear from a panel of business and academic leaders on what socially (ir)responsible business is in a post-pandemic world. With emotions running high and risks seemingly lurking around every corner, those people who are interested in the question; “what will the implications of “the new normal” be for socially responsible business practice?” - should find our discussion most stimulating.
Our hope is that by engaging with the discussion on corporate social responsibility and irresponsibility, our participants will gain a better understanding of the risk and opportunities that societal expectations represent to their business, industry or sector - as well as those within their supply chains and beyond. As such, we are hoping for a very lively set of discussions indeed.
Agenda:
- Panel Discussion with ongoing fielding of questions from the audience – 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Dedicated Q&A at the end – 15 minutes
Speakers:
- Professor Mathew (Mat) Hughes, Loughborough School of Business and Economics (UK) - Moderator
- Doctor Giulio Nardella, Loughborough School of Business and Economics (UK)
- Doctor Irina Surdu, Warwick Business School (UK)
- Doctor Anna Grosman, Loughborough University London (UK)
- Ian McKellar, Chair of LATi (UK)
- Romy Kenyon, EMEA Sustainability Manager at 3M (UK)
Invited speakers: Janis Tse, Global Marketing Director at Plaza Premium Group (Hong Kong)