www.impactus.org February | April 2009 N.º 14IS

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Sustainability, Innovation and Educationinterview with günter verheugen - Vice-President of the European Commission Responsible for Enterprise and Industrythe crisis, social entrepreneurship and technologic innovationprinciples for responsible management education – Manuel Escudero, Special Adviser to the United Nations Global Compacteuropean academy of business in society: interview with eabis director general simon pickardreport: academic teachers – Ethics, Responsability And Sustainability In Portuguese Universities

Summary

Institutional supporter

Publisher

Directors Sofia SantosRita Almeida Dias

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Editorial BoardAntónio Nogueira LeiteCharles BuchananCarlos BorregoClara Cidade LainsConstança PenedaFernando M. S. CarvalhoFernando Ribeiro MendesFrancisco de la Fuente SánchezJoão CarvalhoJoão ReisJoão SoaresJoanaz de MeloJorge Rocha de MatosJosé Delgado DomingosJosé Eduardo MartinsLuís LealMário Melo RochaPaulo Ferrão

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External participation in this editionJorge Rocha de Matos, Gunter Verheugen, Rafael Barbosa, António Bob Santos, Manuel Forjaz, Daniel Amaral, Manuel Escudero, Ana Vale, Simon Pickard, Nigel Roome, Miguel Martins, Catarina Soares, Jaime Quesado, Idalina Dias Sardinha, Maria Rosário Partidário, Tiago Domingos, Helena Gonçalves, Liliana Marques Pimentel, Rute Abreu, Luis Reto e João César das Neves. Graphic Design/ Pagination and Cover IllustrationRita Botelhorita.botelho@sustentare.pt

Translation/RevisionJoão Inácio

PhotographyRita Botelho, EQUAL and EABIS

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Im))pactus is part of Sustentare - A portuguese based CSR consultancy company, with an independent editorial board and totally open to civil society participation.

4 Editorial Jorge Rocha de Matos Interview with Günter Verheugen The Dynamic of Clean Technology Innovations Rafael Kellerman Barbosa

lisbon Strategy And Technological Plan António Bob Santos

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Change The Agenda To Schedule Change Francisco Jaime Quesado

PSECOLOGY - Or a nonscientifIc step in Maslow’s evolution? Manuel Forjaz Sustainability Crisis: Time for Sustainability and Innovation Bruno Cachaço e Daniel Amaral

EABIS Simon Pickard

EQUAL Portugal Ana Vale Interview with Manuel Escudero Corporate Responsibility and Management Innovation Nigel Roome

IES Miguel Alves Martins e Catarina Soares

Report: Academic Teachers Ethics, Responsability and Sustainability in Portuguese Universities Route Academic RouteInnovation

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4 for Portugal to reach, as regards competitiveness, a new level in the value chain.

This, should also be the baseline principle for both unavoidable strategic developments to operate in the Portuguese economy: on one hand, to invest in the modernization and innovation of traditional sectors, where there are as a matter of fact excellent examples of best practices, and, on the other hand, to invest in new sectors and activities where the demand and international markets are more dynamic, namely ICT, biotechnology, health technology, new clean energies, nanotechnology, among other.

As a consequence, it should be highlighted some important challenges which are essential to the new competitive positioning:

• To target the resources, especially structural funds related to the National Strategic Reference Frameworks , to reinforce the ability to generate wealth, in a strong competitive environment within the market for goods and services, generating a significant increase in labor productivity and quality, as well as job creation, with positive effects in social and territorial inclusion and cohesion;

• To transform and enhance the portfolio of activities, transferable goods and services, used by the Portuguese economy in international markets, which requires a higher qualification of the active population and focused efforts in activities related to teaching, training and R&D, and in the cooperation between universities and industries, also presupposing an important effort to promote and qualify the entrepreneurial spirit at a national level.

EDITORIAL

Jorge Rocha de MatosChairman of AIP ( Industrial Portuguese

Association )

In the new global business context, to invest in the areas of sustainability, innovation and universities, means that, since innovation is a competitiveness factor of business and economies, it should be considered and planned as a driving force of sustainable development. It also means that innovation should incorporate not only economic factors but also environmental and social factors, in order not to endanger the future of companies and organizations. Against this background, universities as well as other centers of knowledge, play an important instrumental role, as producers of knowledge and technical and technological eco-compatible solutions.

Entrepreneurs and managers are, therefore, facing the growing need to consider environmental, social and economic factors in their decision-making processes. Incorporating these factors is, probably, one of the most important and unavoidable challenges of future management, being equally important from the point of view of value creation and business opportunities.

In addition, to Portugal it is fundamental to develop these three areas (sustainability, innovation and universities), as the basis of a new paradigm, in which the economic and social development and the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy should be based. In the next 10 years, which corresponds to the National Strategic Reference Frameworks period, Portugal should be able to develop within the EU, into a more competitive and appealing country, with an improved environmental quality, and more social cohesion and responsibility. To operate changes in the Portuguese economy, which are compatible with the development of new competitiveness factors related to knowledge and innovation, that is to say, to invest in training, creativity, technology, design, brand, patents, territory connectivity, new clean energies, and in environment as a whole, is the right path

Sustainability, Innovation and Universities

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• To anticipate the restructuring that, in accordance with globalization and new technologies, will allow to absorb the economic and social changes namely through a SME policy that favors a cluster logic, an active management of professional rehabilitation for new jobs, complemented with adequate and active labor market policies;

• To better manage, through a new portfolio of activities, a way to overcome the peripheral situation of Portugal, given that, due to its nature, those activities are less susceptible to that situation, or also because they enable to take advantage of it, transforming that fact into opportunities, together with other appropriations of physical and digital factors;

• To invest in communications and transport infrastructure that will reduce the impact of Portugal’s geographic position, which presumes a concentration and hierarchy in the projects that make possible a wider variety of external connections to Portugal – telecommunications, airports and deep-sea ports, as well as intermodal transport axis aimed at the center of Europe;

• To consider a policy for cities in the development strategy, not only because the vast majority of the population lives there, but also because they represent the privileged places in which those activities could be anchored, and also because at the same time they are able to generate a significant number of jobs in activities that are more protected from international competition;

• To value environmental quality, through a concentration of investment in three areas – natural risks, water resources and nature conservation, and rural development – in connection with large scale investment and policies aimed at the reduction of the polluting effect of mobility.

In conclusion, to develop sustainability, innovation and universities, as strategic drivers of Portugal’s competitiveness among nations, is as important as it is predictable that the new post-crisis cycle, will underpin the importance of a knowledge-based economy.

Actually, the existing opportunities in many sectors, namely, the environment and new clean energies, ICT, biotechnology, and those resulting from the massification of the technological infrastructure

underlying to the current technological cycle, translated into new goods and services, many resulting from the clusterization of mature and new technologies, give a high growth potential in relation to a new economic cycle, though, with stricter requirements of intensive knowledge in line with sustainable development.

The crisis should also be seen as a framework of opportunities. It is precisely in harsh times that important options are taken, that major decisions are made, that new strategies are forged and necessary changes are prepared. It is, therefore, necessary to operate the changes that, in a decade, will allow Portugal to develop, within the EU, into an innovative, appealing and competitive country, with an increased environmental quality, cohesion and social responsibility.

“In addition, to Portugal it is fundamental to develop these three areas (sustainability, innovation and universities), as the basis of a new paradigm, in which the economic and social development and the competitiveness of the

Portuguese economy should be based ”

by Jorge Rocha de Matos, Chairman of AIP ( Industrial Portuguese Association ).

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GÜNTER VERHEUGEN

Günter VerheugenEuropean Commissioner Enterprise

and Industry

1. The European Commission has launched the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. What are the objectives of the Year? In concrete terms, what will happen during the Year?

Creativity is a trait common to all of us, and a process which can be learnt and encouraged. Innovation is about turning new ideas into value, prosperity and well-being, and can play a large part in addressing the complex societal challenges that the world is facing today: climate change, poverty and the current economic slowdown just to mention a few. Tackling these challenges requires new knowledge as well as new approaches to combine existing knowledge and find holistic solutions. This requires creative skills: idea generation, problem solving abilities, experimentation and openness to change, and working together. Both creativity and innovation have been vital to human development and will be the key to our future success.

A number of important events will be organised in the context of the Year. A number of conferences and policy debates will be organised in Brussels by the Commission and other European institutions, partner organisations and stakeholders, business associations, regional offices and think tanks. The European Year has attracted great interest from a broad audience. Indeed more than 300 events (the majority), will take place in the Member States, organised by regions, cities, associations, educational institutions among others. As part of the policy debate on creativity and innovation, my services will publish a document on design as a way of transforming creative ideas into innovation, and launch an online consultation on the topic.

2. According to the European Innovation Scoreboard, Portugal is in the group of “catching-up countries”. What can a country, also at regional and local level, do to improve innovation performance?

The 2008 European Innovation Scoreboard gives greater recognition to human resources, non-technological innovation, and the outputs of innovation compared to previous years. Portugal has successfully paid

attention to the Scoreboard and improved its innovation performance. As a result of its efforts, Portugal today ranks as a “moderate innovator”. The improved performance has been particularly driven by increased investment in human resources, in finance and support, and in business investment in innovation. Other countries with the right policy measures can and will catch up.

Innovation is a complex matter, affected by a multitude of drivers and barriers. Innovation policy needs to take this systemic nature of innovation into account, and propose holistic solutions, including framework conditions and policies related to for example education and employment. Further efforts are needed at EU and Member State level in identifying new drivers of innovation, new forms of innovation and new ways of encouraging innovation. A lot of political attention has been paid to research and development (R&D) as a key driver of innovation, but it cannot explain innovation on its own. Europe needs to encourage other innovation activities, in particular for SMEs for whom setting up an in-house R&D department may seem too steep an investment, and for companies in low tech sectors and regions. This is particularly true in the current economic situation, where less capital intensive forms of innovation must be sought.

3. There is still a big gap between the European Union and the USA. Is this gap decreasing? What countries are considered to be the most innovative? What has the EU done in the poorest countries of the union?

The 2008 European Innovation Scoreboard shows that the EU is heading towards closing the gap with the US although it still remains important. The EU has been catching up in several areas, such as in the number of graduates, broadband penetration and access to venture capital. Remaining weaknesses compared to the US include international patenting, the number of researchers and business R&D expenditure. These are areas we are seeking to address in European Commission programmes, such as the Seventh Framework Programme for Research.

Interview with Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Enterprise and Industry

“I strongly believe that the companies who will lead us out of the recession will be those which consider environmentally and socially responsible behaviour as part of their core values and business strategy.”

“I strongly believe that the companies who will lead us out of the recession will be those which consider environmentally and socially responsible behaviour as part of their core values and business strategy.”

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According the 2008 Scoreboard, the countries with the highest overall level of innovation performance are Switzerland, Sweden and Finland. However, the report also shows that many countries at lower levels of performance, including Portugal, are making strong progress.

Through the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs, and its innovation support programmes, the Commission is promoting benchmarking, exchange of best practices and policy learning. The poorest regions are also covered by EU cohesion policy. Structural funds direct considerable amounts of money into regional development and this includes regional innovation.

4. Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Are these the words to fight the economic crisis? Will European countries not only look at the economy?

First of all, I would like to emphasise that creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship are about the economy. Creativity is a prime source of innovation and innovation is a key driver of economic growth and competitiveness. Entrepreneurship and SMEs are crucial for the European economy and employment. SMEs provide two thirds of jobs in Europe and create 80% of all new employment. Europe needs its small businesses, not least in the current economic situation.

Secondly, I believe that the current crisis is not only economic, but of a more multifaceted nature. We are simultaneously experiencing a serious economic slowdown and an environmental challenge of unprecedented magnitude. Poverty and social exclusion also call for our full attention and commitment. Europe can only flourish if it meets its objectives of sustainable development in all three pillars – competitiveness, environmental protection and social inclusion. The current crisis provides an opportunity to try and create the Europe we want.

5. At SME level, where companies are struggling to live, how can innovation be the solution? And what role should national governments play?

There is no contradiction between survival and innovation, on the contrary. In most sectors, companies must innovate to survive. Innovation is not only about expansion and investing in new product development, but can also be about processes and organisational innovation. These forms of innovation can help companies organise themselves differently to reduce costs and free up financial and human resources.

Last year, the European Commission adopted the Small Business Act. It aims to make Europe more entrepreneurial and improve the business environment for SMEs, in particular by increasing their access to markets and creating a regulatory environment adapted to their needs. National governments have an essential part to play in contributing to its rapid and forceful implementation.

6. In 2005, you gave an interview to Impactus. Since then, how do you see the evolution of the concept

sustainability, in particular among SMEs?

Since 2005, Europe has taken decisive action to make the economy more sustainable. We have set ambitious goals for the EU, and underlined our commitment to get to effective and binding agreements in International climate negotiations. These measures will have long term effects. The Commission is acting at three levels. Firstly, we are working to implement the criteria set by the European Parliament and Council for the free allocation of emission allowances, and to identify the industry sectors to include in this scheme. Secondly, we are implementing the European Recovery Plan, with its emphasis on “green consumption” as a way out of the crisis. Thirdly, the Commission adopted last summer an ambitious action plan for Sustainable Consumption and Production, and Sustainable Industrial Policy. The action plan complements the energy and climate package, and creates the policy framework to speed up the transition to a low carbon society. By rewarding consumers’ eco-friendly behaviours and producers’ best performing products, it will underpin European industry efforts to remain at the leading edge in global markets. The action plan includes measures to help SMEs to seize the opportunity of energy efficiency.

I strongly believe that the companies who will lead us out of the recession will be those which consider environmentally and socially responsible behaviour as part of their core values and business strategy. They will be the companies that see commercial opportunity in helping to resolve societal problems.

7. What is the European SME week 2009? Will there be initiatives in all EU countries? What benefits can SMEs take from this initiative?

The 1st European SME week, taking place from 6 to 14 May 2009, is a campaign to inform entrepreneurs about the support available to them at EU, national and local level. The campaign also aims to raise the profile of entrepreneurs and to encourage more people to become entrepreneurs. We want to demonstrate to young people that becoming an entrepreneur is an attractive career option.

The slogan for the SME week is “Small business, big ideas”. Our ambition is that entrepreneurs and small business will obtain advice and assistance, learn from each other, and network during the SME week, so that they can realise their big ideas, and innovate. Throughout the whole year, hundreds of events will take place in countries throughout Europe and beyond in 34 countries, including fairs and conferences, networking events, company open days and competitions. These events are organised by business organisations, support providers, local and regional authorities and educational institutions.

by Günter Verheugen, European Commissioner Enterprise and Industry.

For more information about the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, see:

http://www.create2009.europa.eu

For more information about the European SME week, see:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/entrepreneurship/sme-week/index_en.htm

“Entrepreneurship and SMEs are crucial for the European economy and employment. SMEs provide two thirds of jobs in Europe and create 80% of all new employment. Europe needs its small businesses, not least in the current economic situation. ”

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THE DYNAMIC OF CLEAN TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS

To follow this market trend, companies must be able to use their internal skills, which is a key feature to establish an innovative strategy. But there are obviously, companies in the market that are unprepared for those changes and will not be part of that new society.Nonetheless, to talk about the construction of a sustainable society in which innovations lay emphasis on the environment, and companies, government and consumers act according to the same principles could be nothing but a fairy tale if those businesses are not profitable.To begin with, profit may seem like an obstacle to the implementation of clean technology innovations, but the truth is that those solutions may reduce not only environmental costs but also financial costs. To achieve that goal, the agents involved in the development of those innovations must have the necessary appropriation conditions regarding the results of their researches, that is, the result of their work must be protected, whether it is by patenting or other forms of protection, ensuring their conscious use in benefiting companies.

In this context, the importance of the so-called technology transfer agencies is increasing. In Brazil, the largest part of scientific research is done in universities, many of the technology that is produced there has applicability in companies, through patenting or by creating spin-offs. INOVA (Agency for Innovation of the State University of Campinas – SP, Brazil) supports researchers and companies who present requests which are compliable through technology innovations, protecting the produced knowledge and generating the necessary partnerships for those solutions to produce benefits to society. That innovation agency is pioneer in the implementation of a sustainability program that will be focused in clean technologies, enabling companies to find the solutions they are searching for and to apply them in a safe and profitable way. The licensing of a clean technology, developed by university researchers, is intermediated by INOVA, enabling its implementation in a company’s productive process thus helping to consolidate a market strategy that lays emphasis on the environment without harming profitability.

This example demonstrates, from a Brazilian experience, a way of ensuring appropriation conditions which are suitable for companies looking to implement sustainable innovations, but for those agencies to work efficiently they need to count with the adequate legal framework, bearing in mind the specificities of each country. Externally, new legal requirements and consumers demands force companies into adopting an increasingly proactive behavior regarding the environment, internally, the internal abilities and the appropriation conditions regarding used technologies are key variables to ensure business profitability. Bearing in mind these two dimensions (internal and external), one is able to see some development drivers and application of clean technologies, currently and also in the future. When one thinks about sustainability, one should keep in mind the importance of technology (and technological innovations) to the consolidation of alternative and competitive strategies that might play a key role in the construction of a sustainable society.

Environmental issues are part of the debate and research agenda of several society segments including governments, companies, and the scientific community which have striven to design a sustainable society and the role of technology within it.Technology can be considered the cause as well as the solution to environmental issues. Given that the development and use of the so-called clean technologies can revert significantly the current environmental crisis, it seems relevant to understand why would a company or research institution spend their time and money developing such innovations? That simple question, as well as most simple questions, has a difficult answer. I will start answering it by explaining what I mean by clean technology.

Clean technology is all productive product or process that minimizes residues emission, controls pollution, replaces non-renewable material by a renewable one, optimizes the use of resources by reducing the production of rejections and energy consumption, not to mention techniques that reuse inputs and residues. Back to the question, what are the motivations that would lead companies to develop and apply solutions as the above-mentioned? There is a wide range of reasons that would make companies or research institutions develop such innovations. Below I will highlight some of the most relevant.

Government regulation, consumption demand, internal technical ability and appropriation conditions, are four variables that contribute in a fundamental way to the increasing number and relevance of clean technology innovations. In the last 40 years, and more recently due to global warming, the media and the world scientific community have been playing a key role by raising awareness among governments and population towards environmental issues, that present and future society might have to face Those problems result, to a great extent, of a development model that historically has always been unconcerned with the good use of natural resources and is currently facing the consequences of that carelessness. As a response to that fact, governments have been increasing their control and regulation of productive processes, consumption and distribution behaviors. These actions are part of an attempt to force companies to reduce the production/emission of pollutants and other environmental negative impacts. Simultaneously, consumers are increasingly demanding in relation to shopping, by monitoring the behavior of companies and the quality of products, and many of them demand the adoption of sustainable strategies not only on the productive process, but also in general business management. Those two factors combined create a selective background for the innovation and adoption of already existent technologies. This background has the potential to change the course of R&D programs, as well as business competitive strategies towards the construction of a market, whose performance is focused on the environment. In companies, clean technology innovations, tend to be no longer just a response to new regulatory restrictions or to consumers’ pressures, becoming instead a competitive strategy, where those unable to adapt to a sustainable production and distribution strategy, will gradually lose market in favor of green companies.

Rafael Kellermann Barbosa

Student from Unicamp - Economy Institute, São Paulo Brazil and Sustainability advisor to INOVA

by Rafael Kellermann Barbosa, Studant from Unicamp - Economy Institute, São Paulo Brazil and Sustainability advisor to INOVA.

The dynamic of clean Technology InnovationsThe dynamic of clean Technology Innovations

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ANTÓNIO BOB SANTOS

António Bob SantosSpokesperson of the Portuguese

Technological Plan

by António Bob Santos, Spokesperson of the Portuguese Technological Plan.

The European Commission has chosen this year to be the European year of Creativity and Innovation. Has Portugal something correlated already prepared? What are the main measures related to innovation in this last year? And perspectives for 2009? To respond to the Commission’s request it has been designated, as National Coordinator for the European Year of Creativity and Innovation (EYCI), Professor Carlos Zorrinho, who also coordinates the Lisbon Strategy and the Technological Plan. On the 3rd February was officially launched the EYCI in Portugal, in a conference with some experts in these fields, of which I call attention to Don Tapscot, author of several works regarding Web 2.0. Since this is a year of creativity and innovation, we have launched a website that intends to be a reference in terms of public participation. This website is open to comments and suggestions from civil society, but it is also a forum for sharing and to give visibility to public or private initiatives, that will take place during 2009, under the EYCI. That is, any entity carrying out initiatives under the scope of Creativity and Innovation might submit and disclose them through the website (www.criar2009.gov.pt).

How can innovation contribute to reduce the unemployment we have been witnessing? Innovation and creativity are basic aspects for creating more jobs, for promoting further economic growth and achieving higher levels of competitiveness – key goals of the Lisbon Strategy and Technological Plan. We are aware that to a knowledge-based society it is fundamental to have a working population with the required skills that enable it to promptly respond to constant changes in current economies. For such it is necessary to raise the skills levels, which requires improving the basic education, to reinforce the technical and vocational education, retraining adults, but also to improve the digital literacy levels of the overall population, in order to struggle against digital exclusion. On the other hand, the business sector will have to be more sensitive to innovation and value creation issues. In a global economy, innovation is fundamental to differentiate products and services and to achieve higher levels of added value, ensuring an increased competitiveness in international markets and, therefore, promoting job creation.

As national coordinator of the Lisbon strategy and the technological plan what is your opinion as to the technological evolution in Portugal? Especially as regards SME’s, is it possible to refer to innovative micro-enterprises? There have been several changes. The implementation of the Technological Plan has enabled, for instance, in the last four years, to alter the export profile of the Portuguese economy. In 2007, and for the first time, Portugal had a positive balance in the Technological Balance, which means that we started exporting more technological products and services than those we import. Another example is the 5-position rise in the European Innovation ranking, enabling Portugal to be

included in the group of “moderately innovative” countries. Or, also, the fact that the expenditure in Research & Development (in percentage of the GDP) is at the same level of the one registered in Spain, Italy or Ireland, which was unimaginable five years ago. The goal is to maintain this effort and, if possible, to improve these results, strengthening the strategy of the Technological Plan of investing in knowledge, technology and innovation.

In your opinion, what is the link between innovation and sustainability? Do you believe companies in Portugal have considered Sustainability as part of their business? The sustainability of the development model we hope to achieve in the future can only be attained through innovation, namely, in terms of procedures, products and services or organization. This premise is fundamental for us to have a development model that is more energy sustainable, competitive in international markets, able to offer higher levels of qualification and that is inclusive. Fortunately, one has started to acknowledge that there has been, in these last few years, an increased concern of our companies regarding these issues. We hope that this awareness goes on, because innovation and corporate social responsibility are determining to its future.

What about the Universities of Economics and Management? What is the level of incorporation of these subjects in lectured courses? As you know, the Portuguese Higher Education sector is undergoing a restructuring process, which includes adapting to the Bologna Process, altering the governance models of Universities, as well as opening the Higher Education to new audiences or investing in technological specialization courses. Amidst this scenario, the courses of Economics and Management have gradually been adapting to these changes and also to the needs of the labor market and companies. For instance, when I attended the licentiate degree in Economics (ISCTE, mid-1990’s), the course already included, as mandatory, subjects such as “Environment and Territory Economics” or “Innovation Economics”, as well as curriculum training courses in those subjects in private companies or public entities, which was a milestone at that time. In recent years, we have witnessed more links between economics and management schools and the business sector, as well as to the internationalization and international acknowledgement of some of those schools. All this contributes for us to have better prepared students so when they join the labor market they will be able to meet the needs of companies and overall society.

Lisbon Strategy and TECHNOLOGICAL PLAN

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New Strategies on some of the main issues regarding the future of Portugal and Europe are under discussion. To consider the new energies, the environment and innovation as key features of a New Sustainability in which the citizens’ participation is developed under “collaborative network” reasoning, requires a very special focus on the New Strategic Competitiveness Factors that should guide any future action. An atmosphere of change in the Portuguese Society cannot be accomplished unless Innovation and Creativity become the strategic enablers of a new attitude towards the individual participation in society.

The strategic importance of the energetic and environmental issues calls for an active participation of civil society in the debate concerning which path to follow in the future. There is, obviously, a sense of urgency regarding the involvement of “operational players” (the State, Universities, R&D Centers, and Businesses) in the structured approach to the options concerning which investments to carry out. The visit of Stern to Lisbon is, in this context, extremely appropriate: the emeritus professor, who presented two years ago the controversial report on the impact of climatic change in the New Global Order, will certainly have a message of confidence regarding the challenges that the Portuguese economy and society will face in the near future.

Likewise, the themes recently proposed in some events to analyze the strategic connections between two modernity enablers – Energy and ICT – stands out as up to date. The goal to consolidate the Knowledge Society in Portugal cannot be accomplished merely by law enforcing and, in view of the strategic importance to the sustainability objectives it becomes essential that the State, Universities and business players in the telecommunications sector reach a strategic pact on the partnerships that should be developed to implement platforms in which citizens might reveal themselves in this new increasing participative logic that is Portugal 2.0.

The entrepreneurial participation of Civil Society in this broad strategic reflection movement on the new themes for the future of the country closes the circuit. We have received good news regarding the opportunity to develop the Plataforma Construir Ideias, in line with the participation capital of renowned “Think Tanks”, such as Policy Network or Bruegel, among others. The current strategic issue of energy was openly discussed, within a debate concerning the issues

related to nuclear energy as an alternative energy source in Portugal. It is a controversial issue and its debate becomes fundamental to sustain future options. The construction of a Sustainability Society is a complex and transversal challenge to all players and requires a capital of collaborative compromise among all. In 2009, Portugal is already a country in the front line of the latest-generation infrastructures in Telecommunications and new energy sources. Taking up the challenge in a strategic perspective of investment in a new model of Sustainable Economy requires the ability to provide answers to demands in different fronts and, above all, to take informed decisions on the best solutions to be implemented in the future.

The Lisbon Strategy in which the future of Portugal and Europe is based, is a process in permanent renovation. Taking up the challenge of the best options for Portugal in an indefinite Europe and a complex Global World entails the ability to discuss the key issues that put on the table. Energy, Environment and Sustainability define an Agenda that must “grasped” with a sense of future. Therefore, the “talks” that will take place from this moment onwards all through the country will be a sign of response to the challenge. We expect that results will match the expectations.

FRANCISCO JAIME QUESADO

Francisco Jaime Quesado

Manager of the Information Society Operational Programme

CHANGE THE AGENDA TO SCHEDULE CHANGEBy Francisco Jaime Quesado (1)

by Francisco Jaime Quesado, Manager of the Information Society Operational Programme.(1) Manager of the Information Society Operational Programme.

NEW SUSTAINABILITY

STRATEGIC DIMENSION

OPERATIONAL DIMENSION

BUSINESS DIMENSION

CREATIVE DIMENSION

. Macro Environment . Global Positioning

. Awareness Actions

. Education Platform

. Dynamics of Innovation . Value Orientation

. Players’ Pedagogy . Global Networks

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IntroductionI was a poor university student and I keep no good memories of that period.I remember some professors who used words such as “amendoácia” to hunt incautious students, but above all I do not remember anyone who has encouraged me to enjoy learning or using my brain. “Mea culpa”, for sure.Teaching consisted, above all, in memorizing and therefore those who had the best memory, would usually won the prize of best student, being left for workers, travelers, bohemians, curious and experimentalists the last places in the podium and to work in the civil service or in anonymous SMEs.The top students were entitled to the best job proposals, usually at McKinsey or Unilever, where after 10 years one out of a hundred would reach a management position, earning 4 thousand Euros and a company BMW (the prior step was a French car). After further 10 years of career, one out of one thousand would reach the position of CEO.The promotion model and happiness achievement was simple: study, work, get promoted, money, power, visibility, get recognized, reproduce and die.

New WorldI have been fighting the battle of family entrepreneurship for years. However, Portuguese governments, long dazzled by technologies, insist in taking another path. The one of enzymes, software, Magalhães laptop computers and all those clusters which successively collapse before a world where the quick transfer of technology and information walks hand in hand with very competitive labor costs and working hours, top-quality educational systems and low business and social costs (social security, public health system, unemployment funds, etc.). This will inevitably sandwich the national wealth creation system between the centers of knowledge of Berkeley or Stanford and the microchips factories of Shanghai.

On the other hand, on its feeble contribution to the international promotion of the Portuguese economy, insisting in the defeated logic of tradable goods, the processes, working methods and brainware

are forgotten unlike footwear plants (Aerosoles), which without it (fashion, design, retail management know-how, branding, sponsoring, etc.) cannot obviously win in markets where the soft skill is infinitely more valuable than the tradable shoe.

EntrepreneursI have interviewed and became friend of several Portuguese entrepreneurs that throughout the years have developed their wealth, independence and mobility, some of which I have interviewed in my book “A Bela, Belmiro e Empreendedores”.None of them has become successful due to technologies or hardware or even due to the commerce of tradable goods.

Paulo Maló has acted with good judgment and power of observation when, a couple of years ago, he innovated in the dentists market by making available a service in which one did not suffer and did not wait (while I went to something called Rato Clinic where the average waiting time was eight hours and the genius who attended me put a knee in my chest while he pulled my teeth…). He is currently the world’s biggest operator in this market.

António Galhardo Simões sells SMS’s at his Send-it by the millions. He has not innovated a thing except when he offered his clients, in addition to the technological platform that others had, the integrated construction of marketing promotions, which became also available to consumers who his clients very much value.

Diogo Assis doing what many others are doing (DMC), has innovated when he invited an English partner who made his English market turnover to boost.

Even Miguel Monteiro of Chip7 did not become a winner only due to the high-competitive and tradable PC’s that he used to sell. Miguel has won because of his inexhaustible tenacity and also because he has developed an internal innovation chain in his companies (always soft skill), which was unique until some years ago.

MANUEL FORJAZ

Manuel Forjaz CEO and Shareholder at Ideiateca

Consultores

PSECOLOGY (1) Or a nonscientifIc step in Maslow’s evolution?

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by Manuel Forjaz, CEO and Shareholder at Ideiateca Consultores.

(1) Without any presumptions, I believe I have created in this text this neologism (brand and domain.com already registered), since Google, Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica do not reference it; I understand it as a study of the mind, of the nature of this new ecological man; which has a dysfunctional matrix in its life path design, non-compliant with the classical occidental capitalism formula capital+power+accumulation; who is motivated and happy to build and live according to a sense of order, balance and universal harmony;(2) Although Catarina Frazão of the Institute of Social Entrepreneurship, draws my attention to the anthropologist Ruth Benedict and the psychologist Max Wertheimer, that Marlow considered model individuals belonging to the last level, from which he would generalize that among other characteristics these people tend to focus on the problems of others, they have an acute sense of truthfulness and falseness, they are spontaneous and creative and free of any social constraints. But, obviously, this generalization is probably extreme…(3) And also Caroline Myss, author of “Invisible Acts of Power”, “I believe that the human spirit needs to develop generosity and compassion to be healthy. We need to respond to other’s vulnerabilities in the process of addressing and healing our own. Exercising empathy and compassion and performing good deeds makes our body and spirit thrive. One scientific study has actually shown that we require at least four hours a month of face-to-face volunteering time for good health…”.(4) To know something more on happiness read “Happier” by Tal Ben-Shahar (who taught Positive Psychology in Harvard, with a huge success); or read and listen to Helena Marujo and Luís Neto, intentionally acknowledged experts in happiness.

afro-American president of the United States spending thousands of trillions of dollars trying to repair something that we do not know exactly what it is and spending countless hundreds of trillions in endless weapons systems and wars.

The population abandonment of cities’ centers, the boost in the consumption of benzodiazepines, suicides, the pro-pedophile Dutch party, drugs, the new epidemics (syphilis, BSE, avian flu), the old wars, the Columbine crime, the chronic unemployment, are bad signs in a society in which the formal State is not enough to solve them. Social entrepreneurship or the ability to change and improve the world, generating wealth and employment, is thus born, joining together this urgency to overcome the failure or insufficiency of social systems and a new individual motivational order.

Three years ago I attended the Insead Social Entrepreneurship Program, in a period in which the expression itself was more or less experimentalist. Today there are numerous courses, forums, workshops, programs (in March alone I counted more than 20 initiatives in Portugal) on this issue.

And the good news to the nation is that the model “The Hub” is exportable, and it is on the verge of being reproduced in Portugal. The model of the Banco Alimentar Contra a Fome is tradable and reproducible, as well as the models of Médicos sem Fronteiras and Pais Protectores, which in both cases can take the form of operation or cooperation licenses, but also operating in franchising, adding value, generating employment and an evident recuperation value of surpluses and approach to an increased social balance.

And we will all help to build a better world (4).

SuccessWe all would like to be Bill Gates (or at least to have what he has), but after reading “Outliers”, we become aware of how difficult it is to match a minimum talent, to an obvious opportunity and to 10.000 hours of practice.We all would like to be Belmiro de Azevedo (ditto), but we have been long waiting and the chances for Portugal to produce another one seem much reduced.

The new soft skillsIn western society, with a vast majority of the population belonging to a growing middle class (in the sense that everything is available and that my lunch is equal to the one of Américo Amorim), with saturated consumptions in a wide range of markets (automobiles, mobile phones, food and own dwelling) the pyramid of Marlow has clearly gained one new level (2).

Besides success and professional recognition (read ROBERTO SCHINIASHIKI’s “Cuidado Com os Burros Motivados”), and success in building a strong self-confidence (and apparently the Portuguese are all very happy, according to the last Visão survey), one source of happiness is the art of generosity (read “Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier”)(3).

This is a soft skill, therefore, non-tradable at least according to the AICEP (that, illustratively, does not consider the Mystery Shopping methodology developed by Ideiateca a tradable good, and therefore we cannot be supported, although strong material evidence, that with the right financing and support, quickly, in two or three years, we could dominate this market in several countries worldwide).As a matter of fact, this non-tradable good will bring to Portugal, to an international congress, more than 150 experts from more than 35 countries to discuss mystery shopping, with direct and indirect consequences of obvious value.

The crisis and the opportunity“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. “ Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (referring to the French revolution period). In fact, a world in which 50 trillion dollars would put an end to hunger, observes the new

“I have been fighting the battle of family entrepreneurship for years. However, Portuguese governments, long dazzled by technologies, insist in taking another path. The one of enzymes, software, Magalhães laptop computers and all those clusters which successively collapse before a world where the quick transfer of technology and information walks hand in hand with very competitive labor costs and working hours, top-quality educational systems and low business and social costs (social security, public health system, unemployment funds, etc.). “

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SUSTAINABILITY CRISIS: TIME FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION

We are living in the midst of an economic, financial, environmental and social crisis. There is a very indefinite situation and we have seen constant capital injections into the financial system. There are many different predictions, as some say the worst is over and the peak of the crisis took place during the first half, while others say this crisis is still halfway through and others predict the recovery only for the end of 2010.Half a year after the beginning of this crisis, we are finally noticing a recovery of the world stock markets, although with much uncertainty and with an unrecorded and incomparable volatility. Worldwide managers are trying to save companies, avoid dismissals and maintain the investment in sustainability. On the other hand, there have been large-scale dismissals, a reduction in the quality of life, a consumption drop and the confidence amongst businesses keeps on falling.

Could the G20 meeting, in London, have been a crucial step towards a paradigm shift and the way out of the crisis? The G20 has announced a plan of 1 trillion dollars to address the economic crisis, and assigned the IMF with a key role of “distributing” this money. We believe it is finally time for the environment, driven in general by the USA, and in particular by president Obama. China has finally assumed a commitment towards the environment and Germany continues to lead in Europe as regards Renewable Energy. The Iberian Peninsula starts to emerge as an example regarding the investment in solar and wind power and in Portugal the nuclear lobby is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore by political decision-makers.The so-called perfect storm, which has hit the real economy and dragged us to the point where we stand, is in fact, the perfect sustainability crisis, in which the lack of regulation and Governance favors corruption instead of transparency, in which the economic agents prefer to take into account the very short-term profits instead of socio-economic development and long-term viability of organizations and, last but not least, a crisis that reminds us, that we continue to borrow our grandchildren’s planet without any guarantee fund.

That is to say, the environment keeps degrading at a frightening pace, good news do not overcome the bad, and although there are excellent examples, from Governments or companies, the environment has not yet found its recovery, and we are and will continue to remain hostage to fossil fuels. The taken steps must be bigger, the actions stronger and the response combined. With Obama we have seen the USA assuming a leadership role in the defense of a more ecological World, let us hope it is not too late.The Copenhagen Conference, in December, will be another important page in World History, where it is expected a global and effective response against climate change, in particular regarding the carbon emissions.There is an increasing interest of consumers in the acquisition of green products and in the added value that it grants to environmental responsible companies. There are several studies proving it, not only in the EU but also in the USA. The environmental conscious of consumers is finally born.

Considering the social side of sustainability, we will easily realize that things have changed little, and in some cases have changed for the worst. In Africa, conflicts go on, as well as water and food shortage (it is sufficient to note the catastrophic reflex of the increased cereal prices). In developed countries it becomes noted the growing importance of the third system, which is now starting to play an important role regarding society and its interaction with companies. In Europe, the population is increasingly ageing and prospects for young people are not the best, e.g. in Portugal the number of unemployed newly graduated people keeps on rising.

There is a well-known economic crisis in the financial sector and markets, and it is never too much to repeat that this situation was caused by irresponsible managers, some of them even with no ethics. In the USA, President Obama continues to “reform” these managers (e.g. automobile industry and AIG); there were many attacks to banks headquarters and demonstrations; the United Kingdom forced some of those managers to take the heat and assume their faults; in Portugal three banks were linked to illicit practices and offshores and, how surprisingly it may seem, we had for the first time a banker behind bars.It is consensual that the financial regulation has completely failed and that it has to improve. Transparency has to be promoted by Governments and companies, thus increasing the confidence of investors and consumers.

We have reached a point in History in which, inevitably, the way of thinking and acting individually and in society will change.The time has come for socially responsible investments, green products, environmental conscience, ethics and transparency, better regulation, lesser pollution, added-value products for citizens and society.

Why innovate? On what depends the innovation in sustainability?

The relationship between sustainability and innovation is, at first, easy to picture. Innovation, whatever it is, will have an impact, either within society (e.g. social inclusion projects) or the environment (e.g. emissions reduction technology).Sustainability must be a platform for innovation and it must be developed an innovation culture regarding sustainability. Some of the aspects which promote innovation in sustainability are:

- Internal environments that enable intra-organizational and creative conflicts;- Subsidies, public policies and technology, that is to say, the external macro-environment;- Eclectic teams which make possible a creative boom;- Particular attention to “organizational borders”, like for instance partners, suppliers, that is to say, innovation by stakeholders.

It is irrelevant if innovation is done bottom up or top down, the innovator must be able to challenge the status quo and anticipate

SUSTAINABILITY CRISIS: TIME FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATIONTHE INEVITABILITY OF A PARADIGM SHIFTBY Bruno Cachaço and Daniel Amaral

SUSTAINABILITY CRISIS: TIME FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATIONTHE INEVITABILITY OF A PARADIGM SHIFTBY Bruno Cachaço and Daniel Amaral

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scenarios. The error is normal and natural, 93% of innovations start on the wrong foot, it is necessary to explore the discontinuities, to understand the needs and leverage skills.

Innovation may take many different forms. It can be procedural, by implementing a new and improved form of distribution or production. It can be related to Marketing, by implementing changes in design, package, promotion or price. It can be organizational, through the implementation of a new organizational method, either within the workplace, external relations or business practices.

MAPPING INNOVATION CLUSTERS

Innovation clusters around the world can be classified based on their growth and diversity dynamics; “hot springs” are small, fast-growing hubs on track to become world players; “dynamic oceans” consist of large and vibrant ecosystems with continuous creation and destruction of new businesses; “silent takes” are older, slower-growing hubs with a narrow range of large established companies; “shrinking pools” have been unable, so far, to expand beyond their star-up core and so find themselves slowly migrating down the value chain.

Source: Juan Alcacer, Harvard Business School and New York University; Mckinsey analysis.

Diversity: Number of separate companies and patent sectors in cluster in 2006

Momentum: average growth of US patents in cluster, 1997-2006

In, World Economic Forum paper: Technology and Innovation in Financial Services: scenarios to 2020More info: http://www.weforum.org/en/index.htm

McKinsey, working jointly with the World Economic Forum, has drew a map in which it identifies success features in innovation clusters; they have analyzed the clusters’ evolution and 700 internal and external variables, to identify trends in success cases (see map bellow).

By macro-analyzing Portugal, through the 2008 European Innovation Scoreboard we realize that the technological plan of the socialist Government has some merit. Portugal has climbed five places in the European Innovation ranking. The scoreboard published in the end of January has revealed that Portugal had a growth rate of its innovation indicators twice above the EU average. The progress achieved in indicators regarding human resources training was great, as well as in indicators concerning the economic effects of innovation. Therefore, there have been some structural changes in the basis of the Portuguese economy, given that we are now part of the Moderate Innovators group, in Europe.

As to the European reforms in innovation and research, we have analyzed the European Reform Barometer which refers there is a slowdown when compared to last year. Even though, Norway, Hungary, Cyprus, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Portugal, Denmark, Ireland and Luxembourg made progresses above the EU average. In Belgium the tax reduction on researchers and patents, as well as the improvement of cooperation among universities explains these progresses. The economic crisis did not contribute to these progresses and Governments must find solutions, innovative solutions.

As to companies, much as been accomplished in these last few years to consubstantiate the innovation in sustainability. Some companies have joined sustainability to the word innovation, that is, they have shifted innovation towards the emergence of new financially viable solutions in different innovation levels, which benefit both society and the planet, by mitigating any social, environmental or community risk. Unfortunately, we still have to wait a while before we are able to realize if this recent investment phenomenon was accomplished in a large enough scale to change our wrong development patterns.

In 2006, Marks & Spencer, one of world’s largest retailers, adopted a new sustainability strategy and concept that promised to revolutionize its business, and so it was with Plan A. The well-succeed communication of this plan enabled to understand that plan A was much more than a simple sustainability report. This plan lists more than 100 qualitative and quantitative compromises, aimed at all sectors within the company. From salt reduction in the food it sells, to audits and guidance to suppliers, these compromises include all relevant sectors of the company that can be improved as regards social and environmental aspects. This strategic innovation in sustainability enabled Marks & Spencer to be in the forefront of this sector’s references.

Portugal’s position in EU context

2006 2007 2008

Group of countries that Portugal have been belonging

Relative progress

22º 22º 17º

Countries catching up

Countries catching up

ModerateInnovators

11th higher 7th higher 5th higher

High

Low

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Size of cluster: number of patents gramed in 2006

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As to visibility, and disruption with previous management, there is the top example, the most diversified strategic and transversal business plan in the world, the Ecomagination by GE. Focused in eco-efficiency, Ecomagination aims to find solutions namely the most resource-efficient, the most advantageous for clients and the most profitable for its stakeholders, investing in a long-term strategy. In the beginning of the 90’s, Toyota drew attention to itself by stating its determination of being the sector’s leader by pursuing its innovation and energy efficiency strategy. Being a common example for most new management theories, Toyota asserts itself too for being a reference in technological innovation in sustainability. In 1997, it launched the first hybrid automobile, a completely disruptive market innovation, and in 2008 it asserted itself for the first time in History by ousting Detroit giants from their premier positions as world leaders in this sector. Nevertheless, today, this disruptive technology innovation from the 90’s, is seen by consumers and political decision-makers a small improvement to already existing vehicles, given that it only reduces fuel consumption and limits CO2 emissions when compared to their predecessors. Today, the market has assimilated as a technological disruptive innovation in sustainability, automobiles that do not need fossil fuels to work, but keeping the same quality and comfort of current vehicles. Will Toyota be able to carry on riding the crest of the wave of technological innovation in sustainability?

As to the level of innovation in management, it becomes difficult to understand who is really taking advantage of novelties introduced by the sustainability theory in terms of management innovation. Some companies have already understood, that only by taking advantage of their stakeholder power and cooperation, will they be able to offer goods and services that are profitable, socially accepted and environmentally benign or competitive. The stakeholder engagement standards made available by AA1000 and Global Reporting Initiative, point paths to build management models that include, not only stakeholders’ data, but also their participation in the management of the company. Although there is yet a short track record and few differentiating examples it is obvious, given the diversity of sustainability reports, there is a genuine concern to include stakeholders in companies’ management. Nonetheless, this is not a simple challenge. The worldwide business governance is inevitably marked by top down structures, where a CEO and respective senior vice presidents have, according to Gary Hammel, “the decisions monopoly”, of what goes or not to the market. Therefore, what reaches the organizations’ respective seniors from the bottom of the organization was previously filtered by suppositions and ambitions which limit and close down the range of options for those responsible for the executive power within organizations. The challenge of management innovation in sustainability lies in the fact it enables to build models, which allow truly relevant stakeholders, to overcome and make irrelevant the need for a decision-making hierarchy. It is up to the hierarchy to understand the best way to build relationship models that enable to connect the basis of the company to its top, and also the external environment to the decision-making process, in a flexible and coherent way. In its recent publishing, “Corporate Innovators & Social Intrapreneurs: Make

Change From Where You Are” SustainAbility, of John Elkington, presents several case studies, which explain and exemplify the emergence of new businesses and new investments, labelled as “sustainable”, within multinational and well-known organizations. With this set of cases, SustainAbility presents its new cliché in the management world – Intrapreneurs. This new species of the business sector can simply be defined as social entrepreneurs who have promoted change from within their companies, putting in practice, strategies, cooperation, and disrupting, viable and feasible products and programs that have brought benefits for their companies’ business, as well as made available a solution with obvious social and environmental benefits. These “sustainability champions” have been true corporate drivers of change, which have modify global organizations’ way of acting, by introducing solutions according to the “laws” of sustainability and according to a holistic perspective of business, without externalities.Although refreshing and innovative, intrapreneurs are not the only answer to innovation in management sustainability. Social networks and the populations’ power, partnerships with the corporate sector and the third system, management systems to permanently engage stakeholders are solutions with just a short record but a large progression margin to achieve the Holy Grail of business, the “competitive advantage” and the positive differentiation.

Innovation in sustainability is the next big step that we have to incorporate in the management of our companies. In the future, competitiveness will imply a greater emphasis of all stakeholders on environmental and social aspects that affect, both upstream and downstream, the product that is made available. It is natural that the financial viability of the product is determined by production demand, by used raw materials, by working conditions and by the scrutiny to which the organization is subjected to. We are going through a transition period, in which environmental and social labels are starting to be known and to incorporate the “quality” variable.Organizations such as Body Shop, Natura, Whole Foods or Tríodos Bank are beginning to be seen, by the business sector, as references to be studied, to be bought – e.g. Body Shop – and lastly to be replicated.The current economic crisis is a short-term crisis that will leave traces in society, and new inequalities and social problems. It is urgent to build corporate management models focused in innovation and sustainability as their differentiating referential, since after this economic crisis, we will continue to have an energy crisis, an atmospheric pollution crisis, a CO2 emission crisis and, lastly, the eternal social inequalities crisis. As a consequence, it is urgent to place sustainability at the top of priorities. It is urgent to involve stakeholders, it is fundamental to teach and disclose the meaning of sustainability to each organization, it is crucial to develop technologically, but above all, it is absolutely necessary to reinvent the way we achieve solutions, that is, it is necessary to reinvent sustainability management.

by Bruno Cachaço, Business Developer Im))pactus and Daniel Amaral, Consultant in Sustentare.

SUSTAINABILITY CRISIS: TIME FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION

“Being a common example for most new management theories, Toyota asserts itself too for being a reference in technological innovation in sustainability. In 1997, it launched the first hybrid automobile, a completely disruptive market innovation (...)”

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1. How was EABIS created and what is its main activities ?EABIS is the outcome of an ambitious idea being transformed into an international success story. Our roots can reach back to the turn of the millennium. In 2000-2001 the EU’s Lisbon and Gothenburg Strategies laid out a vision for a sustainable European society. Around the same time,

stock markets worldwide were shaken by the burst of the dot.com bubble and high profile corporate scandals (Enron, Worldcom, Parmalat, and others).

Globalisation itself was giving rise to new and complex social, environmental and governance pressures on companies. Critical debates emerged about corporate responsibility and the role of business in society. Big firms were suddenly made accountable for externalities that they had previously been able to ignore.

In 2001 five pioneering companies – IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Shell and Unilever – saw that a long-term response to these issues would require fresh knowledge and insight to support organisational change. By extension, their leadership would need to develop new skills and competences to manage responsible business in the future.

As a result, the companies, supported by the European Commission, joined forces to call for a partnership with Europe’s top business schools. The central mission of the newly created organisation – EABIS - was the mainstreaming of corporate responsibility into management practice and development. The vehicles for doing so would be co-created research and education projects shaped by real-world business priorities.

Since its founding in 2002, EABIS and its members have run over 20 projects to advance corporate understanding and curriculum change around critical business in society issues. Vitally, the five founding companies have supported these with € 1.5 million in funding. EABIS has also become a reference point for policy research, leading 50% of the CR-focused projects under the EU’s 6th Framework Programme (FP6).

2. What are your activities for the next years?EABIS’ priorities will be more and better thought leadership, dialogue between business and research, capacity building and internationalisation. Much has been achieved in the last few years, but plenty of challenges remain.

New perspectives are clearly needed with regard to global and corporate governance, risk management, corporate leadership and sustainable value creation. As the reference point for business-academic-policy collaboration, EABIS will take a central role in developing these through research and dialogue. Unlike traditional research, EABIS places great emphasis on interdisciplinarity and the inclusion of stakeholders in its projects – which reflects the complexity of the questions we address.

The outcomes from those endeavours will support paradigm shifts in how executive development and management education are delivered. Ultimately EABIS’ ambition is to prepare current and future leaders to manage their firms sustainably in a new socio-political and economic landscape. Business schools and universities have a crucial role to play in achieving that.

3. How can students/researchers participate and in which areas?That depends on how one defines “areas”! One challenge for EABIS is to shape a more consolidated and inclusive global debate. Our network now stretches over 25 countries and all 5 continents, so we are connected to institutions across the world.

It is also an institutional membership organisation; we work with researchers and faculty from different disciplines, across business schools and universities. In this way, we accomplish far more around business in society issues in terms of awareness, engagement and integration. Nonetheless, EABIS puts all of its research and education outputs into the public domain, making them available to any interested individual.

Our student connections are not so visible, but we have strong working relations with AIESEC and Net Impact. These are two of the world’s foremost student organisations that promote sustainable development issues among their global communities. It is worth noting that in recent

SIMON PICKARD

Simon PickardEABIS (European Academy of Business in

Society) Director General

INTERVIEW WITH EABIS DIRECTOR GENERAL SIMON PICKARD

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years students have become a key driver for more courses on ethics and corporate responsibility. As such, there is great value for us in supporting AIESEC, Net Impact and others who engage students in this debate.

4. Regarding sustainability and CSR in European Universities, can you tell us what are the main references? Main schools?First, I would suggest that readers look up the EABIS Academic Membership online. This will give them a sense of the leading institutions in Europe who are committed to mainstreaming corporate responsibility and sustainability. Within that group of 50+ Schools and Universities, it would be unfair to single out individuals.

Second, I encourage people to visit our new Business in Society Gateway website, co-developed with the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). This portal features the world’s first Directory of CR research and teaching activities, covering undergraduate to executive education. With almost 200 schools featured already, it has a wealth of information about the “state of the art” in this domain.

5. What are the future issues that researchers should be developing regarding sustainability and CSR issues?At the risk of being immodest, the best synopsis is in a new EABIS report from our recent EU-financed “CSR Platform” project. This 2004-2008 initiative set out to map the diffuse and fragmented CR research in Europe. It also helped to delineate “CSR” as an academic field and to identify ways to develop it as an area of collaborative research.

Based on consultations involving almost 2,000 people from business, academia, policy and civil society, our Final Report presented a forward-looking research framework and a list of 11 themes around which major knowledge gaps had been identified. Among others, it highlighted the need for business and stakeholders to play a more active role in design and delivery, and to go beyond the narrow constraints of “CSR” towards the bigger picture of business in society.

6. Can we say there is a big gap between Europe and the US or Japan regarding studies in sustainable business?Not necessarily. For one thing, the term “sustainable business” implies a very wide range of issues, disciplines and definitions which vary based on the selection criteria. It is difficult to measure differences between Europe and elsewhere in terms of quantity of relevant research.

Plenty of studies have been conducted around the world on companies that have sustained growth and profitability for years and are seen as leaders on social, environmental and governance issues. This research often analyses “sustainability” at the level of the firm – through competitive advantages in strategy, operations, marketing, HR, or other internal functions.

Researchers around the world need to rethink this approach, because it is no longer adequate to give us answers to major “sustainability” challenges – public issues such as climate change, desertification, AIDS and so forth. The effects of globalisation are making those challenges grow fast. EABIS’ intents addressing any future “sustainable business” research within this expanded set of boundaries, and we hope others will follow our lead.

7. When do you think economic theory will include, in a established way, sustainability issues?On one level it already does – any theoretical model whose fatal flaws lead to the destruction of economic value is not going to be seen as sustainable. Ultimately, a key influence will be the ability of economics researchers to collaborate with other disciplines and fields. Business has a role to play in markets, but it also has a social and political identity. If economics embraces this plurality, it will perhaps become part of the theoretical solution.

Going a little further, though, one might argue that – in the short term – sustainability issues will emerge at the microeconomic level before the macroeconomic one. Whether formal theory develops, integrating the same terminology, remains to be seen. However, if we take one simple example – the question of resource scarcity – it is obvious that oil and water shortages will encourage longer-term change in behaviour and consumption among both companies and individuals.

8. Do you think the financial crises is in any way related with sustainability issues?As we have seen, it is basically impossible to decouple anything from the current crisis. The fall of the banking institutions has affected all parts of the global economy. At the heart of financial market, we have seen levels of speculation – from management as well as shareholders – that have undermined sustainability of the environment, society and the economy. It is this kind of short-term speculation that business and governments are obliged to address now. Unless there is a coherent response, we will find it difficult to build a sustainable new form of capitalism and economic development through and beyond today’s turbulence.

9. What lessons can we learn for the future?We need to rethink executive remuneration and accountability. It makes no sense to align the pay of company directors and senior managers with the limited interests of shareholders. An example is stock option packages – incentives for short-term management goals and practice that are based on share prices, not long term value creation. In the future, boards of Directors will be under far more scrutiny to address these issues.

More broadly, current and future managers should be trained to better understand the role of business in society and the purpose of the firm. This includes the responsibility business holds as an actor in political, economic and social environments, and by extension the implications of corporate decision-making. We cannot go back to “business as usual”. Our challenge is to absorb the lessons of today’s crisis to protect against a repetition in years to come by building more sustainable business than ever before.

by Simon Pickard, EABIS (European Academy of Business in Society)Director General.

“It is worth noting that in recent years students have become a key driver for more courses on ethics and corporate responsibility.”

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EQUAL is a Community Initiative, financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Portuguese State, to promote Social Innovation, that is, to develop new solutions that are able to respond to the needs and expectations of people, organizations and communities, in order to build a more creative, inclusive and fair society.

To accomplish these goals, EQUAL has developed an experimental model, which started in 2000, and is based in three stages: establishing a diagnosis of the problems and needs, and defining a project and partnership to develop it; validating innovative solutions and implementing the project; sharing solutions with policy makers, policy-making organizations, technicians/users/beneficiaries, and society as a whole.

The development of the above-mentioned stages is inspired in a set of principles and practices that have contributed to significant changes in people and organizations involved with EQUAL, especially in their approach and way of working and getting involved in society.

EQUAL Intervention Principles:> Innovation> EQUAL has contributed to the creation of a new innovation dynamics regarding social intervention, by promoting creative and efficient solutions to new and old problems to which society is still unable to respond.> Partnership Work> A working partnership culture has been developed, through the creation of Development Partnerships which bring together organizations of different genre and complementary intervention, enabling responses that are integrated and consequently more efficient.> Empowerment> It has definitely introduced in Portugal the concept of empowerment of beneficiaries of social policies and interventions. The development of this concept was crucial to adjust Social Innovation to the real needs of people, organizations and communities, as well as promoting participation and citizenship.> Transnational Cooperation> A significant number of transnational agreements and projects have been established, rendering possible a mutual enrichment, by sharing different realities, experiences, practices, knowledge and, joint development of new products and solutions.> Gender Equality> It has promoted a new mentality towards gender equality, according to which, equal opportunities, rights

and duties between men and women, becomes real and deeper at different social levels.> Dissemination> A new attitude towards sharing and transferring knowledge and innovative solutions has been promoted, in order for them to be validated by third parties and to be transferred to contexts that enable reaching more users and final beneficiaries.

The 188 EQUAL Development Partnerships (DPs) have developed hundreds of innovative products and solutions aimed at different intervention sectors. Of this set, 320 innovative methodologies were chosen to be disseminated, and its choice was based in several criteria, such as quality, innovation, empowerment, usefulness, accessibility, among others. They can be grouped according to seven domains which, overall, correspond to the main areas of innovation developed by EQUAL: Empowerment, Inclusion and Interculturality; Territorial Development Animation; Inclusive Entrepreneurship; Education for Employability and Citizenship; Lifelong Learning and Organizational Innovation; Corporate Social Responsibility; Modernization of the Prison System and Integration of Ex-Prisoners; Gender Equality, Conciliation of Private and Working Life and Local Services.

The objective of EQUAL is that innovative solutions developed by projects on an experimental basis, have a multiplier effect, that is, that they are acknowledged, adapted and incorporated by organizations outside its universe. To that effect, EQUAL has a structuring character, that is, it acts if possible on the political, organizational and technical “structures” that intervene in the training-employing-inclusion processes, since it believes that these are key elements to ensure the transfer of solutions that will benefit socially disadvantaged audiences.

The biggest Community Initiative in Social Innovation implemented in Portugal and in Europe, ended in last December, as a laboratory for experimentation. But the huge legacy proves that it is possible to develop a Social Innovation dynamics involving and including many organizations and people from the public, business and third sector, given that it is their complementarity that enables the creation of innovative solutions to become efficient.

Among the hundreds of projects that witness the importance of the EQUAL legacy and the usefulness of the developed solutions, it should be highlighted the Supported Employment and Nautilus, the later being the continuation of the first.

EQUAL PORTUGAL

Ana Vale EQUAL Portugal Manager

Social InnovationThe EQUAL legacy in PortugalSocial InnovationThe EQUAL legacy in Portugal

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«Supported Employment and Nautilus help to create life chances»To have a job in the open labor market, fairly paid and in accordance to personal skills, is a key element to social inclusion, personal fulfillment and quality of life. It is precisely in individual skills that those responsible for the EQUAL project – “Supported Employment” – believe that the formula that makes possible to fight social inequalities and to create life chances can be found.

Originally designed for people with disabilities and mental illness, the “Supported Employment” project, based on the international movement with the same name, was adapted to a broader number of people in disadvantageous situations, namely ethnic minorities, ex-prisoners, young people signaled by the judicial system, women who are victims of domestic violence or, merely, people that due to a disadvantageous socio-economic situation are to be found excluded of the world of work. This model is characterized by the participation of individuals in the construction and selection of their own professional project (self-determination), by the valorization and conciliation of expectations and individual talents with the requirements and needs of companies (job matching).

This way «a person has the opportunity to become aware of one’s own history, skills and what should be done to accomplish a successful socio-professional process of integration», explains Augusto de Sousa, representative of the Portuguese Association on Supported Employment (APEA), entity created in 2003, as a consequence of the dynamics developed by the members which, at the time, were involved in the Project.

The success of this methodology is due to an individual support, provided by project technicians, business tutors, business colleagues and employers, which in cooperation try to make these individuals’ skills and potentialities acknowledged and valued, and also to the involvement of the beneficiaries in the definition, implementation and evaluation of their own integration process.

«Starting from the person’s skills and according to what that person intends to do, we try to identify a company to develop an individual program that allows to monitor that person; we have to be able to lead people into applying their potential in the company, at all levels», adds Augusto de Sousa.

To fully achieve its objectives, the Project has developed a set of educational resources that provided valuable support to the methodology generalization and consolidation in Portugal, facilitating their appropriation by organizations.

Increase of Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility

As important as working the process of the individual in its connection to companies is working to support companies in their connection to individuals. Of this assumption was born the project NAUTILUS, aiming to enhance the connection between the Supported Employment methodologies and the Corporate Social Responsibility movement, especially in the scope of social sustainability and diversity increment.

According to a cost/benefit study by Supported Employment, conducted by the project NAUTILUS, «the social dimension of companies is more and more seen as a key aspect in business competitiveness and in the reinforcement of a productivity and profitability enhancing environment», not to mention it contributes to improve corporate image and reputation.

According to the APEA representative, «the logic underlying this process is that companies need human resources to operate and the people who need a job have skills that might solve some of companies’ needs», this is in fact creating the conditions for a «marriage» between the needs of people and companies and not, unlike one might think, to grant a favor or accept an imposition.

The results achieved so far are very positive, «in terms of Supported Employment we have worked with more than 1000 companies in the Greater Lisbon and Setúbal regions. The beneficiaries are, certainly, more than 600», says Augusto Sousa, to whom these values reflect generated jobs, successful socio-professional processes of integration and more companies satisfied with this working dynamics.

HIGHLIGHTS

«EQUAL was the biggest Community Initiative in Social Innovation ever implemented in Portugal and in Europe».

«This model is characterized by the participation of individuals in the construction and selection of their own professional project (self-determination), by the valorization and conciliation of expectations and individual talents with the requirements and needs of companies (job matching).»

by Ana Vale , EQUAL Portugal Manage.

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1. What are the PRME and how did this initiative start? What is the main purpose? The PRME are a global call to update the curriculum, research and teaching methods of business schools and other management-related academic institutions to the realities and social demands of the XXI, embedding in the education of future managers the values of sustainability and corporate responsibility.The mission of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative is to inspire and champion responsible management education, research and thought leadership globally. The PRME are inspired by internationally accepted values such as the principles of the United Nations Global Compact. They seek to establish a process of continuous improvement among institutions of management education in order to develop a new generation of business leaders capable of managing the complex challenges faced by business and society in the 21st century. In the current academic environment, corporate responsibility and sustainability have entered but not yet become embedded in the mainstream of business-related education. The PRME are therefore a timely global call for business schools and universities worldwide to gradually adapt their curricula, research, teaching methodologies and institutional strategies to the new business challenges and opportunities.Taking the Six Principles as a guiding framework, any institution which is willing to integrate corporate responsibility and sustainability in a gradual but systemic manner is welcome to join the initiative.Being a good corporate citizen has never been more relevant than it is today.As the world faces serious economic, social, and environmental challenges, an increasing number of companies – from large multinationals to small and medium-size enterprises – are beginning to address these challenges strategi¬cally and in their day-to-day operations. There are promising trends indicating a premium for companies which proactively progress towards sustainability and social responsibility – by developing and implementing strategies that mitigate risks, stabilize the business environment, and seize previously un¬tapped opportunities for value creation. A company’s ability to compete, gain trust and ensure long-term viability is today more clearly linked to responsible business behavior and accountability. This heralds new ways of doing business which benefit both the company and society.

As the corporate sector requires new solutions, knowledge and new holistic ways of thinking, management-related academic institutions, and in particular business schools, are uniquely positioned to address these needs:

• Through education, academia has a core role in shaping the skills, competen¬cies and the decision-making capability of future business leaders.• Through research, academia can develop means and frameworks for responsible business practices.• Lastly, academia is a key actor in advocating the new values and ideas of responsible business.

Through these means and by serving as a positive example within their

own operations, academic institutions have the potential to generate positive change on a large scale.

2. How many institutions are associated with this initiative? And how does that partnership works?As of today ( April 2, 2009) 224 institutions for all over the world, from the US to Europe, to the Middle East or the Asia-Pacific region. By the end of 2009 we think that the initiative will have grown to 350 participants, again with a balanced geographical spread of the initiative in particular with regard to Latin America, Asia, Middle East and Africa. In order to do that, we need participating business schools to act as advocates, and we need new alliances (regional, particularly in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

The partnership works through several platforms:a) Public sharing of information on progress concerning PRME implementation: We are starting now the process of public reporting (or as we prefer to talk about it) of sharing information on progress as the best window of recognition of our efforts. b) Learning: We work also through Working Groups in different areas, usually led by one or two business schools – our aim for this year is to start the flow of learning, by producing useful tools for implementation, based on good examples provided by participating schools. c) Open business schools thought leadership to society: we should start landing from the abstract concept of sustainability to the specific issues it entails, through partnerships in issues where we lend our capacities to the resolution of pressing problems.

3. Do you believe Universities are now assuming ethics, sustainability and innovation as part of their studies? The trend of corporate sustainability and responsibility has entered the classrooms but has not become part of the strategic core of management education.

Management-related academic institutions have already embarked on a long-term mission to adapt their roles as educators, researchers and advocates. Topics such as business ethics, business and society, environmental and sustainability studies or social entrepreneurship are increasingly being integrated into academic curricula. However, in most cases these issues are neither part of the core courses, nor have they been integrated as new basic values of more traditional subjects – from financial analysis and accounting to marketing, operations or human resources.

Given this reality, the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) are a timely global call for business schools to gradually adapt to the new business challenges and opportunities.

4. Do you notice a growing interest in this subject by students, teachers and Governments?Yes, there is a growing interest by students on being well prepared to their future career, by having the vision, the technical tools and the skills required to serve a company that practices the core values of corporate

MANUEL ESCUDERO

Manuel Escudero,Special Adviser to the United Nations

Global Compact,Head PRME Secretariat

Interview with Manuel EscuderoInterview with Manuel Escudero

social responsibility. You can have a look at the results of the surveys done in this respect by two organizations that are co-convener of PRME, NetImpact and the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program (http://www.unprme.org/resource-docs/LizMawandRichLeimsider.pdf ).

Concerning teachers, faculties in general are plural, and there are professors with a clear idea of these issues and others that do not see it for the moment. This is why PRME is meant as a gradual initiative, that usually takes off by a group of faculty with the support and commitment of the dean’s office and then, gradually, extends the need and practice of curriculum change…but that takes time and we think that is good that it takes time…change should not be enforced but demonstrated and voluntarily accepted by faculty members.

Concerning governments the trend is equally important and increasingly so…the last prove of this is the call for corporate social responsibility mentioned in the Leader’s Statement of the G20 in its London Summit. 5. Bearing in mind the current economic crisis what role should Governments assume regarding Education? To persist on high quality education is always important, but now more than ever.

6. Probably with responsible business and managers we weren’t in this financial crisis. Do you agree? Yes, I agree. This is why in our statement in the Global Forum for responsible Business education which we held at the UN in December 2008 we say that the current global economic downturn has demonstrated the high degree of interconnection between capital markets and the real economy. In the midst of the most severe financial

crisis of our lifetimes, we believe that the values of global social responsibility embedded in the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) have never been more important. PRME business schools can play a critical role as agents of change by renewing our commitment to the education of future leaders. It is critical that management-related academic institutions educate a new generation of corporate leaders committed to creating long-term value. The current crisis has reinforced our view that the long-term viability and success of business will depend on its capacity to manage environmental, social and governance concerns and to create sustainable value through innovation and new business models adapted to a changing global environment. This notion of corporate responsibility as a prerequisite to sustainable growth will require alignment of business strategies and operations with universal values and principles portrayed in international initiatives such as the United Nations Global Compact. It will also necessitate higher levels of transparency and accountability to stakeholders. We are committed to placing these considerations at the core of curriculum development for management education.

7. Can we say there is a big gap between Europe and the USA regarding studies in sustainable business?We are all learning and we are all opening the way and walking the talk.. 8. What projects or activities are planned for the future? Plenty, there are around 30 activities in different parts of the world planned for this year and led by different signatory institutions…but the most important activity is, without doubt that, in 2009, by the communication on progress made by all participants we learn from each other how to implement in our daily educational activities the principles of PRME.

by Manuel Escudero, Special Adviser to the United Nations Global Compact,Head PRME Secretariat.

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IntroductionThe concept and practice of corporate responsibility (CR) is understood in different ways. Rather than look at academic definitions this article turns to practice for inspiration. It sets out a number of different approaches to CR that have been observed, isolating the driving forces for each approach and considering the orientation of CR that follows. It then turns to examine the evidence from cases of companies that decided to develop and embed CR in their business process or business model through radical change. A model of management innovation that underpins companies successful in this process is presented and discussed.

Drivers of CRIrrespective of company size there are a number of drivers to CR. At one extreme there are values-based companies, which from their beginning work to a particular set of human or environmentally related principles as part of the guiding vision of the original founder(s). This might derive from conviction, alignment between ends and means as in the case of companies providing environmentally friendly products, or, simple market expedience because entrepreneurial opportunities were seen in meeting demand for products and services offering particular social and environmental characteristics. In all cases managers learn by doing.

At the other extreme there are companies that come to CR because they face real or perceived external pressures and demands. This might be due to direct social and environmental pressure on their products, services, or technologies. Or because the development of CR practices by competitors or trend-setting companies is seen as something to aspire to. This is even the case with companies that see themselves as leaders and therefore are early adopters of CR, setting the trend for others. In contrast to values-driven companies, these companies undergo a process of learning and change in order to develop their CR practice.

Orientations to CRIn addition to differences in drivers, CR can assume different orientations. Three main orientations are found with some sub-categories. The first orientation is found in companies that view CR as a philanthropic process in which they make available a portion

of their revenue, managerial competence, staff skill or donations of products or services to benefit social and/or environmental ends. This may be developed with no clear strategic connection to the business, its products or markets or competences or it might be informed by a logic that says we seek to be philanthropic in ways that support the development of our brand, our visibility with particular client groups or influential actors or through projects that support employee pride and retention or the development of key competences.

The second orientation is found in companies that find their activities under social and environmental pressure and therefore face business risks that have to be dealt with by better control and employee alignment. At the extreme this will involve better alignment of employees, processes and routines so that risks are minimised, social and environmental impacts reduced and better confidence and trust built between the company and the actors with concerns about its activities. Here there are two sub-categories. Control and alignment for risk management may only affect some of the companies activities, or it may involve the overall approach by the company to its portfolio of activities. It can grow out of experimental activities that are scaled up or from wholesale change. The experimental approach is more cautious, enabling the nature of risks and opportunities and capabilities in dealing with them to be developed.

The third orientation to CR involves takes social and environmental demands and concerns as a source of inspiration for the development of new opportunities for value creation. This might be through experimentation, with a narrow focus on a limited set of business opportunities, or it might involve a wholesale revision of the company in light of social and environmental demands and business opportunities.

Companies can be involved in a all three orientations and some companies combine some of the sub-categories at the same time or sequentially. These change process are often ragged and uneven.

However, combining these drivers and orientations it is clear that the most extreme example of organisational change is found in companies that were not originally values-based but rather found that they were operating in the face of market, social and or environmental conditions that caused their managers to seek wholesale organisational change, Their intent was to develop a new business model and associated

NIGEL ROOME

Nigel RoomeSolvay Business School, Brussel and

Associate Dean TiasNimbas Business School

Corporate Responsibility and Management Innovation Professor Nigel Roome

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business processes and routines that create value in new ways and/or avoided or reduce risks as far as possible. The process used by companies successful in this approach provides important experience.

The author has studied a number of companies of this kind. Their approach is described and discussed in the next section.

CR and Organisational Transformation Through Management InnovationThe basic properties of the process of transformative change undertaken in companies successful in embedding CR in their overall business model and organisational structure involves a number of stages, supported by a number of roles played by members of the company and other actors, and a series of core beliefs. The stages of the process are simple.

1. Emergence of the awareness of the need for change 2. Development of a new vision of what the company wants to be3. Search for, and generation of, new concepts that provide a pathway to the new vision4. Testing of those concepts by building ideas and testing the feasibility of the combination of concepts and ideas 5. Translation of the new practices found in the combination of feasible concepts and associated ideas into new organisational, personnel and market development activities and communications as well as technical processes or new products.

The first two stages were often developed at or near the top of the company. This does not mean the top management always defined the new vision, but if they did not they knew a new vision for the company was needed and sought input to shape what the vision would be like. The generation of new concepts followed the creation of the new vision. This often drew on ideas from outside the company linked to ideas from within using the knowledge of those who knew the core elements of the companies processes or practices.

Stages 4 and 5 involved contributing ideas from within the company to flesh out the new concepts and make them operational across the company structure from operations, to marketing, to strategy. This involved extensive interaction between those who championed the new concepts and those within and across the company who could help determine if the concepts were feasible and who would ultimately need to change their practices to make those concepts work.

Finally, once the vision, concepts and practices were tested for feasibility and aligned they were supported by communications and actions that led to organisational development and change across the whole company. This involved training programs, face-to-face communication and communications cascades. Stages 4 and 5 often led to technological innovations.

In terms of direction - vision came from the top downwards, new concepts were generated by combining inside and outside knowledge, and, ideas to determine feasibility and changed practices were bottom up.The roles that supported this process included vision-shaper, resource-gatekeeper providing organisational space and the resources needed for the process, concept generators who linked knowledge to shape new concepts, concept champions who carried those concepts through the organisation communicating them and seeking supporting ideas. Networks champions, whose knowledge of key people in the company enabled the concept champions to gain support and insight. Finally, those who contributed ideas and changed their routines in line with the vision and its associated concepts.These roles were not necessarily played by individuals but often by groups and sometimes they were supported by routines – such a regular cross-division or cross-level meetings or knowledge management systems. In this way these roles contributed to the leadership of innovation and change as a shared activity constructed through a variety of necessary roles.

Finally, the evidence suggests that three core beliefs support the process of change. First, change was necessary and inevitable because the problems the company faced were a function of the way it did business – therefore the way business was done by the company needed to change. Second, change was seen as an adventure, or opportunity or challenge to be welcomed not resisted. Third, there was a strong belief from the top in the importance of communication as listening and speaking and the value of participation of ideas that would support change. Organisational members were encouraged and empowered to participate and contribute input, especially through rapid feedback on whether their ideas were thought to be feasible or not and if they were not consider feasible why this view was held.

Conclusion This brief paper has addressed organisational transformation around CR as a form of managerial innovation. That process involves distinct stages, roles and beliefs that contribute to leadership for change. Here managerial innovation leads to technological innovation rather than the other way round. It was driven by perceived need rather than being pulled by technological invention. While the evidence comes from CR in the extreme case of companies facing the need to completely transform their activities it is suggested that when CR is regarded as a process of management innovation it might be potentially more successful than when it is seen as a dictate from the top of the organisation or a set of initiatives that bubble up from the bottom. The suggestion is that the stages, roles and beliefs are robust whatever the orientation of CR within a company.

by Nigel Roome , Solvay Business School, Brussel and Associate Dean TiasNimbas Business School.

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IES

Recession, unemployment, crisis, indebtness, social problems, are currently common expressions. We are living the first crisis of the contemporary “Global Age”. September 2008 will be remembered has a dark month. There were signs of failure of our financial system, but instead we have chosen to trust in the market recovery. We have been caught in a financial crisis that has led to an economic crisis that, gradually, has uncovered a deep social and values crisis in the so-called “developed” countries. This is a growing social crisis. To the harsh circumstances in which the Millennium Development Goals were born, one must add the rising number of unemployed people, over-indebtedness of families, the increasing poverty that is often hidden, the limitation of natural resources, climate change, among many other. We observe this growing wave of social problems and we become conscious of the powerlessness of governments, international organizations, enterprises and the social sector to transform this reality.

The solution is not in a certain sector, but instead in a mentality and depends on several premises. Professionalism is vital to solve social problems. We need an increasing optimization of resources, which are more and more scarce. We need a more objective communication that enables more partnerships and “real” exchanging experiences (who is already doing what, where, how, why, with which means and results). The missions of the organizations must overrule personal interests. Only these premises together will we be able to hasten processes of innovation and good practices, generating a bigger impact in a shorter amount of time. We cannot “lose” any more time trying repeatedly to invent the wheel. However, solving these problems is not enough. As Belmiro de Azevedo said in a meeting at the Competitiveness Forum: “Portugal has a crisis of leaders” that affects governments, parties, enterprises and unions. To these I would add the social sector. Finally, there must be a clear identification of current and future social problems. Without information and clear objectives, there will be no leaders arising. Social problems, as the rest of the market, need leaders with initiative, that measure and assume risks, that recognize opportunities, that assume the consequences of their actions, that have the courage to learn with their own mistakes, that create a positive social impact and measure it, that seek the sustainability of their

projects. These individuals, whose characteristics might be compared to a navigator on his way to India, are kindly called “social entrepreneurs”. This will be one of the driving forces to overcome the crisis. Let there be initiative!

Social Entrepreneurship (SE) joins talent, initiative and business tools on behalf of the resolution of social problems. Undertakings with a clear social mission, innovative in the way they create new business models, focused on the creation of social impact, with high replicability and/or scalability potential and, finally, a search for financial sustainability. These are the characteristics that make SE projects unique.

Entrepreneurship, social or not, is not part of our recent culture. According to GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor), an independent structure that evaluates the entrepreneurship reality in 34 countries, Portugal does not have a past history that makes this path easier. Only 4% of our adult population was enterprising in 2004 (a value that has decreased 50% since 2001) and the national culture of incentive to entrepreneurship was quantified as being the lowest of this study. The state and education were not unrelated to this fact: we were below the GEM average in every category of entrepreneurship support and we were the European country with the worst performance concerning the support to university and primary/secondary education, on entrepreneurship. 40 years of Salazar regime and the existence of significant organizations in the social sector, have limited for decades the emergence of entrepreneurs in our civil society. Although this is the true starting point, with the right incentives, access to global information and some mutual aid, it will be possible to revive the entrepreneurial spirit in Portugal.

In the light of these new paradigms, it is necessary to search for new balances in the economic, social and environmental development. We need new leaders with motivation and initiative spirit. It is necessary to educate a country for this change of paradigm. We cannot wait for third-parties to solve the problems that we face. A cultural transformation and a change in mentality are needed. This is where education plays a fundamental role, since it has to quickly adapt itself to this new reality. More incubation, registration and investment in more patents, empowerment of students, increased notion of risk, a more practical and objective education, a closer relationship with enterprises, civil society and the world, and also lifelong coaching. This is the path of the main universities throughout the world – to constantly try to interconnect sectors to solve economic, social and environmental problems. Isolated sectors are obsolete and do not solve our problems. This is the path SE has been walking, by combining the best of both the private and public sector with the power of the individual.

The current crisis, social entrepreneurship and IES: paths to walkMiguel Alves Martins, Executive Director of the Social Entrepreneurship Institute (IES)

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Acknowledged universities, such as Columbia, Harvard, Oxford or INSEAD have already created their SE departments. And many others like ESADE, IESE, LBS, Kellogg or São Paulo have been researching and teaching in this area. In Portugal, AESE and the Lisbon MBA have reference classes to offer in SE.

The SE concept has gained worldwide visibility due to people such as Muhammad Yunus, developer of the microcredit, and Govindappa Venkataswamy, founder of the Aravind Eye Care System (the first project supported by the Champalimaud Foundation). Nonetheless, this is not a new concept. It is the underlying philosophy that has led to the appearance of Misericórdias, a Portuguese innovation of the end of the 15th century. The expression social entrepreneur was used for the first time in 1972 by Robert Owen, in his book “The Sociology of Social Movements”. The expression became well known in the 80’s with Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Professor at the Harvard University and Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka – main international organization working on this domain.

In Portugal, SE became known in May 2007 through the organization of the “Social Entrepreneurship Congress”, an event organized in partnership with INSEAD and the Municipality of Cascais. In the second edition of this event, in 2008, it became clear the need to set up a SE development strategy, a test tube based in Portugal but with global bridges. Cascais embraced the project, INSEAD joined the initiative and contributed to its credibility. IES will help to define and implement that strategy: a project by social entrepreneurs designed for social entrepreneurs, aiming to become a leading research and learning center in Social Entrepreneurship.

The goal of the Social Entrepreneurship Institute (IES) is to respond to the needs of social entrepreneurs. It is an innovative, ambitious project focused on a social mission, which starts from local knowledge and aims to have a high impact at a global level.IES conducted a market research on social entrepreneurs throughout the world to confirm their main needs. The mission of IES is to respond

to these needs, so that more determined individuals with inspiring ideas achieve their high potential of social and environmental impact. We want more social entrepreneurs, better solutions and bigger impact! To that end, it is necessary to respond to certain needs, such as sharing knowledge, access to funds, impact measurement tools, promotion, management tools and skills. Therefore, IES acts in four main areas: research, promotion of social entrepreneurship (SE), knowledge sharing and active learning.

In the field of research, IES is developing an identification methodology of SE initiatives, in partnership with professors from national and international universities, the Cascais Municipality and the IEFP. At present, this is a pilot project in the Cascais Municipality, with plans of extension to the remaining Portuguese municipalities and also to other regions, namely in Africa. These market researches enable to ascertain the SE reality in the field and to give visibility to best practices, so they can be replicated and applied in larger scale, enhancing their impact. Research also enables the knowledge and “import” of SE international best practices and tools, such as impact measurement tools.

As to the SE promotion, one of the most visible activities to be organized in 2009 will be the 3rd edition of the Social Entrepreneurship Congress. This is an event acknowledged by the quality of its programs and speakers, by the innovation of the discussed topics and also by the opportunities of intersectorial and international networking and learning.

In order to enhance knowledge sharing, IES invests significantly in a continuous networking process, by promoting local and international SE networks, and in the development of a knowledge bank.

Finally, the learning and empowerment area. IES believes in a high-impact practical and experimental training, enabling skill enhancement and providing access to tools and sources of funding. These training sessions will be complemented by coaching programs, tailored to the specific needs of each initiative and to their development stage.

IES intends to ease the emergence of new social entrepreneurs and to enhance their impact as catalysts for change. We believe we will be able to generate social transformation, by promoting more social initiatives and solutions which are more sustainable, more efficient and with higher impact.

IES – a basis in Portugal for Worldwide Social EntrepreneurshipCatarina Soares, Executive Director of the Social Entrepreneurship Institute (IES)

by Miguel Alves Martins, Executive Director of the Social Entrepreneurship Institute (IES) and Catarina Soares, Executive Director of the Social Entrepreneurship Institute (IES).

“We need new leaders with motivation and initiative spirit. It is necessary to educate a country for this change of paradigm.”

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Report: Academic Teachers – Ethics, Responsability and Sustainability

in Portuguese Universities

What is your academic link to Sustainability, Social Responsibility and Ethics?What research have you been doing in that field? Have you done it through partnerships?In your opinion what is the importance of teaching subjects such as Sustainability, Ethics and Entrepreneurship?Could the current crisis have been avoided if Ethics and transparency were truly promoted by Universities?Do you notice a growing interest of students and teachers regarding these issues?What is the role of Universities towards a truly sustainable development?

questions:1.

REPORT: ACADEMIC TEACHERS

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With these three subjects – Sustainability, Social Responsibility (SR) and Ethics – I have a polygamous love relationship in which all of them are imbricated. These loves of mine materialize themselves in different scenarios: the most recent is the SOCIUS/ISEG, a research centre where I have the pleasure to learn and share knowledge; the other scenario is teaching social responsibility and corporate ethics to post graduate and master degree students, who are very challenging. The pain of this triple relationship happens when I see these loves growing slowly and disguised as “good” deeds.

1.

Helena Gonçalves Universidade Católica Portuguesa ( UCP )

Almost all of us value quantification. When I started being a scientist’s “apprentice” it was also through quantification: at first, quantifying environmental impacts, and then

2.

Without experience in basic education and specific knowledge on how the ethical structure of each one of us is structured, I dare to say that it is in that early growth period that values of fair representations are taught and established in each one of us. Nevertheless, we know that even if we learn what is fair we may not act in accordance! Even so, I want to believe that in professional learning, one may still teach that one professional attitude is more or less virtuous than another. Waddlock (2005) states that “business schools need to teach future leaders the strength and fundamental nature of relationships between business, society, nature and the world, or else organizations will be managed by hollow leaders who have no real sense of ethics and responsibility, as it is described in the poems of T. S. Elliot «The Hollow Man»”. In this regard, there are debates on the features of ethics teaching in terms of content, period, educational approaches and even Schools where it should be developed (e.g., arts, management, biology). It seems urgent that a student fully grasps the references of traditional philosophy before business ethics, bioethics or art ethics. However, it is not simply a university education with some gaps in ethics and transparency the main responsible for the crisis in the capital market and social institutions. Other players are part of the dynamic and synergic social, cultural, political and economic systems, among others, that we design. In universities, the articulated multidisciplinarity is fundamental for curricula to be able to respond to urgencies of those interested in sustainable development.There is nothing new that I can add to those things we are able to specify: I “feel” there is still much beauty to think, do and enjoy, there is much intelligence and authors to read and stick to, by those who crave a fair development.

3./6.

I lecture Business and Economic Ethics at the Faculty of Economics and Management in the Catholic University of Portugal – Regional Centre of Oporto, which along with Ethics and Philosophy and Social are available at the common core curriculum of licentiate degrees in Economics and Management. These subjects substitute the 5 Seminars on Ethics and Humanism, which were previously available during the 4-year licentiate degree, prior to the “Bologna reform”. I am also a teacher of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Ethics in different courses, namely in the Executive MBA, at the Escola de Gestão Empresarial (EGE – Atlantic Business School) – in partnership with the University of Aveiro and AEP (Portuguese Business Association). At this school I am the coordinator of the Post-Graduation in Management of Organizations and Sustainable Development, which started in 2005. Presently, it is taking place the 4th edition at the Foz Campus, and the 1st edition at the Sintra Campus. It is much diversified in multiple scopes raging from the curriculum, to the teaching team or students’ heterogeneity, and has been developed in order to meet some characteristics of Sustainable Development: eclectic vision, multidisciplinarity and action. With students from Economics and Management, Law, different Engineering courses, Philosophy, Architecture among others, the learning in multidisciplinary teams is real and students end up with a generic education on Economics and Environmental Politics and also on different areas of Management from Accountancy to Marketing and Finance. Students are confronted with issues related to Sustainability and get to know some of the multiple specific tools, such as codes of ethics, standards and benchmarks or sustainability reports. It includes an innovative module – the Theater Forum, 9 fixed seminars and several conferences and study visits that differ in each edition. The teaching team is diversified, including teachers from our university as well as from other faculties and also renowned corporate experts. It counts, from the start, with the support of an important partner, the BCSD Portugal.

At the Regional Centre of Oporto, in the School of Biotechnology we provide basic education through a licentiate degree, combined with two Bologna master degrees: one in environmental innovation, turned to environmental quality and health, and another, more conventional, in environmental engineering. The investment is consolidated at the doctorate study plan, which includes various subjects raging from recovery of

1./6.

contaminated soil and water decontamination to public participation in controversial socio-environmental decision-making processes. For other audiences there is a Summer school with a broad range of small courses and workshops, including the creation of eco-clubs, the development of Agenda 21 programs, the use of sustainable natural systems for water treatment, and the familiarization with genetically modified food and their (un)sustainable implications.

This investment of the Catholic University of Portugal will certainly continue, by taking advantage of multiple synergies among several schools.

Every institution (formal or informal), including universities, has a crucial role in the promotion of a truly sustainable development since they “provide the seeds”. The degree of responsibility of each one of us is bigger since we have them in our hands; they will sprout, or not, according to the way we “plow the field” or cope with “weeds”. But this will only take place if we transform ourselves, leaving our comfort zone to think about and act upon the big challenges we face. If we remain still like the frog, inside the heating pan, we will never have the opportunity to jump “out of the pan”, out of the system. To achieve a Common Welfare, with and for others, in fair institutions is something that is, certainly, dependant on each and every one of us.

quantifying and organizing under typologies the “right path” towards sustainability. I believed that if we knew the concrete goals of sustainability, we, and in particular companies, would make out the path. I have discovered that there is an immensity of aspects, objectives, and tools to operate, in an almost insane search for the least painful path to reach sustainability. And so I am, as well as my colleagues and partner enterprises, wondering as to the reasons, ways, results and correlations between, e.g., SR and competitiveness, the link between managers’ ethics and SR strategies, as well as analyzing the concepts and ways that better correspond to acting with equity. Research regarding this subject has been increasing in a hesitant way, without the desirable agility. I joyfully learn that some simple and beautiful ideas such as the foundation Francisco Manuel dos Santos, whose mission is to value public institutions and to reinforce the rights of citizens, emerge from these small and big efforts of thinking and acting with responsibility.

Idalina Dias Sardinha SOCIUS – Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão ( ISEG )

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REPORT: ACADEMIC TEACHERS

In my works I analyze the concept of sustainability at an organizational level, which is frequently perceived as a synonym of quality of results and long-term viability of companies. In my works the concept of sustainability or persistence of results is considered as a performance score. In this regard, organizations are considered to be futureless unless they are profitable, efficient and ethical.

1.I have devoted myself to this subject since 1994, and have been lecturing Economic Ethics and Business Ethics at my university since 1998. Besides that, I have helped to found along with some colleagues the CEBE (Center for Business Ethics, Business and Economics) of the Catholic University of Portugal, which conducts researches in these matters.

1.

I have researched and published in these fields. The most significant publication is the bookNeves, J.C. (2008) Introdução à Ética Empresarial, Principia, Lisboa.Besides that, I have several articles published in international scientific magazines and volumes:Neves, J (2000) “Aquinas and Aristotle’s Distinction on Wealth”, History of Political Economy, vol 32, nº3, Fall.Neves, J.C. (2008) “Ethical Reasons for Ethical Behaviors” in Vaccaro, A, H. Horta and P. Madsen eds (2008) Transparency, Information and Communications Technology: Social Responsibility and Accountability in Business and Education, Philosophy Documentation Center, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.This last one, Vaccaro, Horta and Madsen eds (2008), is a volume published by CEBE, as a result of its first international conference on business ethics, in 2007.

2.

I believe that currently these are unavoidable subjects in teaching Management and Economics. Companies have understood they are required to have a behavior pattern and they make efforts in that respect, which must be followed and assumed by universities.

3.

I do not believe it could. The current crisis is the result of ordinary economic mechanisms. It is true that in these occasions the ethical issues come out and become visible. But its role should not be exaggerated. Even if ethics had been more respected, the crisis would probably have happened anyway.

4.

Certainly.5.

Universities must play their training and education role. If that is to be accomplished with quality, these issues will necessarily take their place. That influence should not be exaggerated, but it is undeniable.

6.

My research has been focused mainly in the analysis of the quality of results as a simple measure of performance evaluation and a key feature when one intends to evaluate the quality of accountancy data.

2.

I consider the teaching of these subjects to be very important. They can contribute to alter the accounting and reporting policies, focusing these last ones in the improvement of valuation techniques (value assignment), information transparency and reporting of other financial and non-financial items that facilitate the estimation of future cash flows. It is clearly acknowledged that the study of accounting or management should be also informed by perspectives of political behavior, entrepreneurship and further sociological and ethical perspectives.

3.

I believe it could, since the financial scandals that started taking place in the beginning of 2000 have emphasized the connection involving corporate failure, corporate governance failure and the reporting practices failure. Being aware that the primary business drivers to sustainability are accountability and transparency, corporate governance and reporting, risk and management, and the detection of important sources of competitive advantages, it becomes clear that if universities would further promote the study of these subjects, if they would adjust their curricula based in a “triple bottom-line” (economic, social and environmental aspects), if they would promote the perspectives of social sciences and political behavior, the most sociological and ethical points of view, probably many of the current economic and financial problems could have been avoided.

4.

Yes, there is undoubtedly a growing interest of teachers and students on these subjects, but there is also a sort of a “generation gap”, that is, the current generation of students respects and defends much more strongly certain

5.

values which are different than those of the current generation of teachers/academics. In a recent research, which we carried out, on the analysis of the ethical predisposition of students and teachers in the accountancy area in Portugal, we have realized that students are more concerned with ethics and philanthropy but show a feebler orientation regarding economic performance, and we have obtained medium-score results in the legal component which were very similar for both groups.

Sustainable development and concepts related to sustainability are both a challenge and an opportunity to universities, not only in terms of research but also of disclosure. Universities have the opportunity to influence the next generation of professionals into being active sustainability agents due to their integration in a productive activity, but also as consumers and citizens.

6.

My role, as President of ISCTE, is essentially to promote and encourage the development of more and better research in these matters, since I am perfectly aware of their growing importance. Simultaneously, ISCTE is concerned with the gradual transversal integration of these subjects in our courses, that is, where these issues are more relevant, namely, Economics and Management.Finally, we intend to obtain and develop the inner skills that are needed for us to be better prepared to cope with these emerging issues.

1.

The conducted research is mostly centered in the existing connections between Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Economics and, in that regard, we are developing some partnerships that enables us to enhance the results and the applicability of the research.It should also be mentioned that, given the fact that ISCTE, through the IBS (ISCTE Business School), is the only Portuguese university member of the European Academy of Business in Society, several research projects regarding these subjects are being carried out, aiming to broadly grasp the importance of Sustainability and Social Responsibility to business activity.It should also be mentioned that ISCTE has been conducting several research projects regarding these subjects, aiming to broadly grasp the importance of Sustainability and

2.

João César das Neves Universidade Católica Portuguesa ( UCP )

Liliana Marques Pimentel Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão de Leiria ( ESTG )

Luís Reto Presidente do Instituto Superior de Ciências do trabalho e da empresa ( ISCTE )

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It is very important, given the fact that any of these subjects has gradually became critical in our society and it is our mission to provide our students with broad skills in these matters, preparing them to a new reality where concepts such as transparency and accountability become increasingly important. Simultaneously, and against the prevailing mentality of most Portuguese university students, whose future perspective is to become an employee, we have been developing, for several years, entrepreneurship activities in teaching, researching and tutoring. The best known example was probably the organization of the contest “Audax – Negócios à prova” at the Portuguese TV channel RTP2.

3.

It could have had a certain impact, but I truly doubt the effectiveness of these initiatives. We need only to consider that this crisis started in the USA, where business ethics began to be taught in most business schools decades ago, to easily understand that is not enough to promote values, unless we intensify the supervision and control mechanisms.

4.

There is clearly a rising interest of ISCTE teachers in addressing these subjects, through the development of new contents where Ethics and Social Responsibility are key elements, or through research projects on these issues.As to students, it is interesting to notice that in the last 3/4 years there has been a significant increase of papers and thesis on these matters and this trend is taking place in the three cycles (Licentiate, Master and Doctor Degree).

5.

Universities play a key role in the promotion of Sustainable Development. For that reason, while training tomorrow’s leaders it is crucial that they become aware and understand the increasing importance of Sustainability and Social Responsibility to the long-lasting survival of institutions and general society.

6.

My academic link to Sustainability issues is accomplished through my activities as a teacher and as a researcher. As a teacher, Sustainability is objectively linked to all the subjects under my responsibility, in particular Environmental and Sustainability Challenges in Engineering (Master in Civil Engineering), Strategic Environmental Assessment (Master in Environmental Engineering and Master in Territorial Engineering), Strategic Environmental Assessment (PhD) and Seminars about Innovation and Sustainable Development at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), in this case a 2nd cycle optional subject, opened to all engineering courses at the IST, which in 2008-09 had more than 70 students from different IST courses. In my opinion teaching sustainability is of major importance. It is inconceivable to currently develop any research or teaching without mentioning or fully including the subject of sustainability. Ethics and Entrepreneurship are equally important, the first one as a set of principles, and the second in a more empirical and operability perspective.The research I have been developing is diverse and has multiple interfaces with sustainability, since it is inevitable to include sustainability as a development paradigm or as a subject of analysis and assessment. The research carried out by the team I coordinate focuses on issues related to setting up sustainability objectives and goals, for example through the development of sustainability strategies, to the strategic assessment of sustainability policies and plans, to sustainability measurement through the establishment and assessment of sustainability indicators, in sectors such as tourism, urban development, land use planning and energy. As regards Social Responsibility and Ethics, my team has been carrying out research in the domain of business strategies and practices, in particular in the sector of tourism operators.

I do not know if the current crisis could have been avoided, but the teaching of ethics and transparency as paradigmatic values of teaching would probably have some effect. The current crisis is the result of a crisis of values and respect for others. If ethics and transparency had been more strongly promoted by universities, maybe the situation would not have reached the point of rupture it did. It was already common-place to say that “it was going to pop somewhere”, that “it could no longer continue like that”. But, as Zapatero declared this week in Madrid, the crisis has not reached rock bottom! It will become bigger and worst, on one hand due to the high speed of

1./6.

ongoing “environmental and social violation” processes that are unable to stop suddenly (like a plane or TGV that need at least half an hour to reduce height or speed) but also due to the much-needed social and economic reforms to reestablish an order that is different than the previous one, based on ethics and transparency values, among other fundamental values to society. However, it seems to me that the Bush administration in the USA and its global weight has probably more influence than universities! Somehow, universities have always contributed to the ethics and transparency culture, and several years ago have intensified that contribution through environmental dynamics and also through social ethics issues.

There is a growing interest of teachers and students on these issues, more by novelty than conviction, although it is evident the growing number of students, more than the number of teachers, which genuinely is concerned about ethics and sustainability issues. Universities are the school, and as the old saying goes “Best to bend while it is a twig!”. The current openness of students, their interest and concern regarding the construction of a fairer society, corollary of ethics, transparency and sustainability issues, is a growing capital that must be used and multiplied.

Besides their use in Accounting and other Management domains, those matters are transversal. In fact, the “traditional” decision-making processes are demonstrating all their incongruities and paradoxes, since it were factors inherent to the accomplishment of sustainability principles, social responsibility and ethics that have led to the (un)balances in Society. The preventive action to combat fraud and corruption, the support to the implementation of decision-making processes based in sustainable development pillars and the permanent control and evaluation of procedures are the measures to be followed in a near future and which are important to pass on to the academia.

1.

The carried out research focuses on social responsibility applied to the practices of certain segments of activity. This research has been carried out through the Social Responsibility Research Network (SSRNet), of which I am a member since its formation in 2003. The

2.

Maria Rosário Partidário Instituto Superior Técnico ( IST )

Rute Abreu Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão de Leiria ( ESTG )

Social Responsibility to business activity. These researches are made possible through the membership of ISCTE, through IBS (ISCTE Business School), in the European Academy of Business in Society.

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Those are very important subjects which are soundly related to the academic performance of each student, apart from leading to their success as future professionals. Above all, these subjects help to improve the “corporate culture”, which demands a permanent (re)adaptation in the conceptual field, and, as a consequence, of professional skills, which must be assured by institutions in higher education. Therefore, students should be provided with tools, skills, knowledge and abilities (improving in some cases the innate ones) that lead them to explore new economic and financial decisions, complying with the principles of social responsibility and entrepreneurship promotion.

3.

The current crisis which was initially financial, is now economic and, more and more, a social crisis as a result of poor organizational practices in the scope of ethics, deontology and social responsibility. Thus, it is unquestionable that, the ethical posture and transparency of carried out activities, given their underlying relationship with the organizations’ decisions, should be part of the curricula promoted by institutions in higher education, in order to develop the corporate improvement that Society demands. In addition, the best and worse experiences and practices in this scope can, and should, support scientific and technical knowledge, since they are excellent “case studies”.

4.

The interest regarding these issues comes mainly from its broad scope of use and its impact in organizations, Society and citizens. Therefore, the creativity of actions and the diversity of the implemented policies, worldwide, highlight the value of companies in a social perspective, which complements their economic and financial value. As a consequence, the increasing responsibility of organizations, the growing development in research by teachers and the teaching and learning of these issues by students, in different subjects and training cycles, contributes to enhance values, principles and the “corporate culture” itself. This whole interest intends to provide answers to Society’s needs, thus effectively contributing to solve problems.

5.

Universities, as well as Polytechnic Institutes, through their players (Rectors, Presidents, Directors, Teachers, Workers, Students and Community, in general) can, and should, enhance the collective consciousness of a more positive and dynamic society, despite its numerous demands. The awareness towards environmental, social, economic, financial and political issues, among others, is an important “seed” that will sprout in a near and more promising future, without the excesses that justify the current crisis, given that the resources are scarce and the needs are unlimited and, thus, the need for balance.

6.

I have a PhD in Environmental Engineering and I am a professor at the Instituto Superior Técnico, in the Integrated Master in Environmental Engineering, where I was or am responsible for the subjects of Thermodynamics, Energy and Environment, Environmental Modeling, Industrial Ecology and Environmental Economics, and also in the doctorates in Sustainable Energy Systems, Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Engineering, where I am responsible for the subject of Ecologic Economics.

1.

My main research field is Ecologic Economics, in which I work in the shadows from basic research, incorporating theoretical contributions of Thermodynamics, Ecology and Economics, over to using this theory to develop sustainability evaluation methods and to the practical application of these methods in sustainable farming. I provide guidance for three postdoctoral scholarship students, fourteen PhD students (three in co-guidance), nine master’s degree students and six research grant holders. I am or was a manager of approximately 20 projects, funded under national and Community research and demonstration programs, by public bodies and private companies, of a total financing value of approximately 3M€. In particular, I was the manager of the project Extensity (Environmental and Sustainability Management Systems in Extensive Agriculture) and member of the coordinating committee of the Portuguese Evaluation of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, both involving a wide range of partners, including companies,

2.

I consider teaching these issues extremely important. Nonetheless, this teaching should be complemented with a general strategy of universities to promote research and intervention in society regarding these aspects, and to really promote entrepreneurship among teachers and students.

3.

Like every socio-economic process, the current crisis has a complex set of causes. In this respect, a better ethical training of managers could have helped to avoid certain problems, but I do not believe it could have prevented the crisis.

4.

I believe that the interest on these issues has been increasing, but it is still insufficient.

5.

Universities play a key role in training technicians with interdisciplinary skills and a comprehensive approach of problems, in the development of research in these fields, and also in the knowledge transfer to public bodies and companies.

6.

REPORT: ACADEMIC TEACHERS

Tiago Domingos Instituto Superior Técnico ( IST )

network, with more than 500 members around the world, has as chair, and major enabler, the Professor Dr. David Crowther (UK). The SSRNet mission is allowing that several stakeholders, concerned with different aspects of social responsibility to join together in research projects, develop courses and course material and various other activities (namely, debating working-papers as well as publishing books and journals).

universities, non governmental organizations and other central administration bodies.I have published more than a hundred scientific articles in books, scientific journals and national and international conference papers.

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Reference websites

UNESCO www.portal.unesco.org European Commission Educationhttp://ec.europa.eu/education/index_en.htm European Commission Education and Culturehttp://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmOECD Education http://www.oecd.org/department/0,3355,en_2649_33723_1_1_1_1_1,00.html www.unicef.orgCommonWealth of learningwww.col.orgInformation Network on Education in Europe www.eurydice.orguropean Centre for the Development of Vocational Training www.cedefop.europa.euEducation and World Bank www.worldbank.org/education PRME - Principles for Responsible Management Education www.unprme.orgEuropean Academy of Business in Societywww.eabis.org

ESADE Business Schoolwww.esade.es

Reference international websites

Portal da Educaçãohttp://www.min-edu.ptPortal Tecnologia e Ciênciawww.cienciaviva.ptParcerias entre Escolas na Europawww.etwinning.net Fundação Calouste Gulbenkianwww.gulbenkian.ptEmpreendedorismo em Portugal www.ifdep.ptAgência para a Sociedade do Conhecimentowww.osic.umic.pt/populacao_educacao Plano Tecnológico Educaçãohttp://www.escola.gov.pt/inicio.asp Qualificação de Jovens www.inovjovem.gov.pthttp://iscte.pthttp://www.ist.utl.pthttp://www.mitportugal.orgPrograma Operacional Sociedade do Conhecimentohttp://www.posc.mctes.pthttp://www.cienciapt.net/ptwww.iseg.utl.ptwww.ucp.pt

Events

May 2009

World Civic Forum: PRME Asian Perspective, Seoul – Korea.

Case Studies in Sustainability Management and Strategy A textbook of competition-winning case studies for management education in the field of sustainability management and strategy.

Teaching Business SustainabilityFrom Theory to Practice

Sustainable Development for EngineersA Handbook and Resource Guide

Books

5th - 8th May

Integrating Corporate Responsibility programme, Ashridge Business School, Berkhamsted, United Kingdom.

6th - 8th May

http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com

EABIS Branded Bookshttp://www.eabis.org/eabis-branded-books/3.html

Responsible Business Summit, London. 11th - 12th May

Baltic Management Development Association (BMDA) 2009 Conference: PRME presentation- Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.

14th May

Global Anti-corruption Summit, Washington DC.

14th - 15th May

Global Leadership, Global Ethics?: In search of the ethical leadership compass - Ashridge Business School, Ashridge, United Kingdom.

15th - 17th May

World Summit on Public Management Education, Training and Development.

18th - 19th June

June 2009

More info in: http://www.unprme.org/events/

COURSEWORK- schools that best integrate social, environmental and ethical issues into the classroom experience: 1-Stanford University; 2- York University; 3-Yale University; 4- University of California, Berkeley; 5- Instituto de Empresa; 6- ESADE Business School; 7- Duquesne University.

RANKING RESEARCH- schools that have published the most research on social, enviromental, and ethical issues: 1 - The University of Michigan 2 - The University of Nottingham 3Stanford University 4 - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 5 - York University 5 - University of California, Berkeley 5 - University of Virginia 8 - University of Bath 9 - University of Notre Dame 9 - University of Western Ontario 9 - Duke University 9Boston College

BEYOND GREY PINSTRIPES is a biennial survey and alternative ranking of business schools. Our mission is to spotlight innovative full-time MBA programs that are integrating issues of social and environmental stewardship into curricula and research.More info in: http://www.beyondgreypinstripes.org/index.cfm

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Route innovation

Reference websites

European Year of Creativity and Innovationhttp://create2009.europa.eu

European Commission Enterprise and Industryhttp://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/index_en.htm

The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme http://ec.europa.eu/cip/index_en.htm

A network for market oriented R&Dhttp://www.eureka.be/home.do

European Institute of Innovation and Technology http://ec.europa.eu/eit

European Portal for SME’shttp://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sme/index_en.htm

Science and Innovation European Innovation Scoreboardhttp://www.proinno-europe.eu/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&topicID=5&parentID=51

OECD - Org. for Economic Co-operation and Developmenthttp://www.oecd.org

Reference international websites

Ministério da Economia e Inovaçãowww.min-economia.ptInstituto de Apoio às Pequenas e Média Empresas e à Inovaçãohttp://www.iapmei.ptMinistério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superiorwww.mcies.ptAgência de Inovaçãohttp://www.adi.ptA educação, ciência, tecnologia e inovação em Portugalhttp://www.cienciapt.net/ptPrograma Operacional Ciência e Inovação 2010http://www.poci2010.mctes.pt/homeFundação para a Ciência e Tecnologiahttp://alfa.fct.mctes.ptSite Português do Ano da Creatividade e Inovaçãohttp://criar2009.gov.pt/ - Instituto Nacional de Engenharia, Tecnologia e Inovaçãowww.ineti.pt Instituto de desenvolvimento e inovação tecnológicahttp://www.idit.up.ptAssociação Empresarial para a Inovaçãohttp://www.cotecportugal.ptAssociação Industrial Portuguesawww.aip.ptwww.bcsdportugal.org

Events

April 2009

- The European Future Technologies Conference, FET09.

Sustainable InnovationThe Organisational, Human and Knowledge Dimension Contributing Editor: René JornaGreenLeaf Publishing

System Innovation for Sustainability 1Perspectives on Radical Changes to Sustainable Consumption and Production Edited by Arnold Tukker, Martin Charter, Carlo Vezzoli, Eivind Stø and Maj Munch AndersenGreenLeaf Publishing

Greener Purchasing, Opportunities and Innovations GreenLeaf Publishing

Sustainable Technology Development, Paul Weaver, Leo Jansen, Geert van Grootveld, Egbert van Spiegel and Philip VergragtGreenLeaf Publishing

Books

21th - 23th April

First European SME Week6th - 14th May

IDC Innovation ForumCriatividade e Inovação como Alavancas de Competitividade para as PME- Braga.

14th May

4ª Jornadas de Inovação / Innovation Days 2009. More info: www.adi.pt

18th -20th June

May 2009

June 2009

ISPIM Conference - The Future of Innovation - will be held in Vienna, Austria.

21th -24th June

More info: http://www.create2009.europa.eu/calendar_of_events/eu_events.html http://criar2009.gov.pt/calendario-oficial/

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