Taking responsibility seriously

10 February 2012. The congress will take place from 16-18 February on the campus of the University of St.Gallen. Some 80 experts from trade and industry, academia and politics will debate questions like “How can we live out CSR in an organisation?”, “Women in positions of leadership: a must for everyone or a unique selling proposition?” and “Supervisory board obligations in the light of ISO 31.000”. Human rights in European corporations, football and responsibility, as well as CSR reporting in the media, will also be on the agenda.

CSR as part of corporate management

“Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not merely some decorative accoutrement in the 21st century but an increasingly significant element of modern corporate management”, says Prof. Dr. Thomas Beschorner, Director of the Institute for Business Ethics at the University of St.Gallen about the choice of the topic for the congress. Society, he added, was now increasingly calling for companies to gear their business practices to social and ecological criteria and to become involved as social actors for the benefit of the common good. Thus companies were facing the challenge of not only reacting to new societal expectations but also of actively displaying suitable practices themselves.

Public discussion about corporate responsibility

The St.Gallen CSR Days will be launched with a public panel discussion on “Social responsibility – who for what?” The discussion will take place in the Library Building (Room 09-011) on 16 February 2012 at 6 p.m. The panel under the chairmanship of the specialist journalist Achim Halfmann will consist of the following personalities: HSG President Prof. Dr. Thomas Bieger, Prof. Dr. Ludger Heidbrink (Essen Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities), Birgit Riess (Director of the Bertelsmann Foundation,) Andreas Schneider (Austrian Economic Chambers) and Prof. Dr. Josef Wieland (Konstanz University of Applied Sciences). Admission will be free of charge.

Photo: Photocase / Juttaschnecke