The European Union Chamber of Commerce is delighted to collaborate with the American Chamber of Commerce to jointly host a seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility in China. The theme of the seminar will be why CSR is often interpreted as "Corporate Scepticism about Responsibility". This is a great opportunity to learn what all the fuss is about and what is going on in China. We are also delighted to be co-hosting this event with AmCham.
Professor Henri-Claude de Bettignies, Distinguished Professor of Globally Responsible Leadership and the Director of the Euro-China Centre for Leadership and Responsibility at CEIBS will discuss Why CSR often means Corporate Skepticism about Responsibility? How to overcome today objections to the implementation of corporate social responsibility in China? What can business leaders do about it? Can business schools – in China – really do something about it? What have we learnt so far?
Henri-Claude de BETTIGNIES, Emeritus Professor at INSEAD is also the Distinguished Professor of Globally Responsible Leadership and Director of the Euro-China Centre for Leadership and Responsibility at CEIBS. Until 2006, he had for 16 years a joint appointment at Stanford University (Graduate School of Business) and INSEAD (Fontainebleau and Singapore campuses) where he taught executives and MBAs in three areas: a) ethics and CSR, b) culture and management in Asia, c) corporate transformation and the management of change.
Clare Pearson, DLA Piper will talk about ethics in business. Do MNC's in China shirk their social responsibilities when operating in China? Does it pay them to do so? What are your chances of getting caught? Is CSR culturally and economically irrelevant at this stage of China's development? Clare will look at the underbelly of CSR in China and Chinese companies operating abroad. Does a pro-active approach to CSR in China pay off or put off? Clare will look at examples of clients and colleagues who have promoted and bolted from CSR projects in Asia and assess whether scepticism or buy-in produces the best results in the long run.
Clare Pearson is the Corporate Social Responsibility Manager of international law firm DLA Piper in Asia (Bangkok, Singapore, HK, Shanghai, Tokyo, Beijing). A UK qualified lawyer, her role involves advising clients on issues relating to corporate governance, supply chain management, environmental degradation and community/government relations. She provides a combination of legal advice and recommendations as to best practice in each field. Further responsibilities include establishing partnerships with Government charities in China, sitting on clients' ethics committees in Beijing and assisting with the international integration of DLA Piper's Asia offices. Clare Pearson has worked at DLA Piper for ten years.
Next we will have a presentation from Mr. Pisano Bi, Director - Quality Assurance/Risk Management/Corporate Investigations and Ms. Tina Zhu, Senior Manager, Training and Development on risk assessment in Wal-Mart. Their presentation will focus on company integrity which is at the very core of Wal-Mart's culture and will also talk about how they emphasise and provide education to vendors on integrity. Mr. Pi will also discuss corporate investigations and how it tackles corruption.
Founded by Sam Walton in Arkansas, US in 1962, Wal-Mart has since become one of the most successful retailers in America. Today, Wal-Mart is a global company with more than 1.9 million associates worldwide and nearly 6,500 stores and wholesale clubs across 13 countries. Wal-Mart had become a textbook example of managing rapid growth without losing sight of a company´s basic values. In Wal-Mart´s case, the basic value was, and is, customer service.