Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley Haas

The call for nominations of the Sustainable Business Research Papers are open! In its second year, the Berkeley Haas Sustainable Business Research Prize honors academic research papers with the greatest potential to address urgent global sustainability challenges. Established in 2023 through the generous support of Allan Spivack (Berkeley Haas MBA, 1979) and administered by the Berkeley Haas Center for Responsible Business, the prize seeks to bridge the gap between academia and practice by recognizing and promoting research that offers the most promising solutions for advancing sustainable business practices and creating a more sustainable future for all. We welcome nominations of papers that touch on the following priority themes: 1) Structuring Companies for Sustainability 2) Cross-Industry Collaborations and Frameworks for Sustainability 3) Rethinking the Role of Business in Society Deadline to nominate papers is January 15, 2025.?Winners of the cash prize will be announced later in the Spring. Submit nominations here: https://lnkd.in/gnMZMspe Please share widely throughout your networks!

?rsted and its CEO Mads Nipper are global leaders in the green transition. We are proud to be a formal collaborator with ?rsted at the University of California, Berkeley via the Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley Haas and Nordic Center at UC Berkeley.

Excerpt of my opening remarks from last night's *EXCELLENT* event hosted by the Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley Haas (CRB): Welcome to “Rethinking Capitalism In The American Business School.” Tonight’s event represents the first in the “Rethinking Capitalism” series. At the CRB, we aim to be a vibrant platform for questioning the status quo of American capitalism. With our base at the Haas School of Business – a leading, mainstream American business school – that lives within this unique place called the University of California, Berkeley, we feel the CRB is uniquely positioned to provoke ideas about rethinking capitalism. We of course had an election this week in the U.S., and when we consider rethinking capitalism, we must consider this thing called democracy. Milton Friedman was, and remains, an incredibly influential figure in American capitalism, and capitalism throughout the world. The so-called Friedman Doctrine refers to Milton Friedman’s prescription that the social responsibility of business is “to increase its profits,” an idea he put forward in his 1962 book “Capitalism and Freedom,” and was widely read in his 1970 New York Times Magazine article that bore the succinct title “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.” ? Friedman argued that when companies and the businesspeople within them focus solely on profit maximization, they will unintentionally best benefit society through the efficient creation of goods and services, and employment opportunities. Friedman charged that businesspeople who might consider other responsibilities, such as eliminating discrimination or avoiding pollution, were, in his words, “preaching pure and unadulterated socialism,” words that reflect the Cold War era and ideological battle at that time between American capitalism and Soviet socialism. To this day, the Friedman Doctrine is foundational to American capitalism and the curricula of American business schools. Some of you may challenge the Friedman Doctrine, as I know some members of our CRB Student Advisory Board do. Some of our CRB Student Advisory Board members have expressed an idea that perhaps there should be a Berkeley-Haas Doctrine of the Social Responsibility of Business, to directly confront the Friedman Doctrine, and where the Berkeley Haas Doctrine could live alongside the Berkeley Haas defining leadership principles codified during the tenure of Dean Rich Lyons, who is now the Chancellor of UC Berkeley. Perhaps tonight’s event will help further provoke such an idea? Friedman had much to say about capitalism and democracy, emphasizing a belief that capitalism inevitably best leads to freedom in all its forms, including political freedom necessary for democracy. In short, Friedman implied that first comes capitalism, then comes democracy. Some of you may challenge such a belief, and these are the sorts of deliberations we hope to help provoke throughout our rethinking capitalism series.

Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley Haas “Social Sustainability in Practice: Alumni Perspectives & Experiences” is on here at University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business! We have several wonderful alums from University of California, Berkeley sharing wisdom & insights from their experiences. Thank you Natalie G., Kelly Liu, Stephanie Smith, Chris Roberts, our wonderful CRB Student Advisosry Board members Vinaya Acharekar and Christina Clark for leading the discussions, and our excellent faculty members Sanchita Saxena and Jenny Vaughan for their bringing it all together!

Join me TODAY for a (virtual) Coffee with the Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley Haas (CRB) from 1:30-2:30pm Pacific time. Coffee with the CRBs are periodic open office hours - some in person on campus at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business and some are virtual like today's. Information from how to join at https://lnkd.in/g7yid3cq. I feel so incredibly fortunate to be asked by so many folks for 1:1 chats, and while I would love these conversations, there is also the practical reality that we have only so many hours in a day (and I guard my family time like a hawk!). So, I direct folks who kindly reach out for chats to these Coffee with the CRBs. I never know if 1 or 30 people will show up, but I do know the conversations are always good! And of course, for those interested in our Nordic Center at UC Berkeley, please join us! The Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley Haas is a vibrant hub of activities at University of California, Berkeley for our Nordic Center at UC Berkeley. Please join me today if you can. Onward!!!

Join CRB on Wednesday October 30, 2024 from 6:15 - 7:45 PM for an engaging panel featuring UCB alumni as they navigate the critical intersection of business, social equity, and sustainability. Learn how these Cal Bear leaders have navigated their career paths, tackle human rights challenges, and integrate social sustainability into corporate strategies. This is the second part of our CRB Social Sustainability Series. The series aims to expand collaborations at the critical intersection of business, society, and sustainability, asking some of the following critical questions: What is sustainability and what constitutes responsible business conduct?? What are ways business can prevent harm to people and the environment, and how companies can integrate social sustainability and human rights into their strategies? Register here: https://lnkd.in/gRCyQ5JC Please bring your UCB ID to check in. See you there!

Join CRB on Wednesday October 30, 2024 from 6:15 - 7:45 PM for an engaging panel featuring UCB alumni as they navigate the critical intersection of business, social equity, and sustainability. Learn how these Cal Bear leaders have navigated their career paths, tackle human rights challenges, and integrate social sustainability into corporate strategies. This is the second part of our CRB Social Sustainability Series. The series aims to expand collaborations at the critical intersection of business, society, and sustainability, asking some of the following critical questions: What is sustainability and what constitutes responsible business conduct?? What are ways business can prevent harm to people and the environment, and how companies can integrate social sustainability and human rights into their strategies? Register here: https://lnkd.in/gRCyQ5JC Please bring your UCB ID to check in. See you there!

The challenges of the climate crisis and widening social inequities demand a new narrative for business and a new kind of leader, able to work across boundaries to achieve social impact. Thus, the CRB will invites the UC Berkeley community to challenge the traditional views of capitalism taught in American business schools such as the Milton Friedman doctrine that “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.” On November 7, 2024 at 5:30 PM in the Faculty Club, we invite students, faculty, other members of the UC Berkeley community to join us in conversation to contribute their own doctrine and consider whether Berkeley Haas should articulate a Berkeley Haas doctrine of the social responsibility of business to complement the Defining Leadership Principles. The event will feature a panel of UC Berkeley faculty for invigorating discussion and raising awareness of interesting courses at UC Berkeley that encourage rethinking capitalism to help?meet?the?needs?of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to?meet?their own?needs. We welcome students, staff, faculty, and alumni to engage with innovative perspectives on the role of business in society and shape the future of how capitalism is considered and taught at American business schools and beyond. Reserve your spot here today: https://lnkd.in/gc5ETJzM

Coffee with the Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley Haas is ON here in the courtyard of University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. Join me! https://lnkd.in/g7yid3cq

Thank you to our amazing professional faculty, Sanchita Saxena and Jenny Vaughan, for leading such an informative presentation on Human Rights & Business. We have a second part to this series taking place on October 30 from 6:15 - 7:45 PM where we'll dive even deeper and spotlight the various career pathways alumni and other professionals have taken to uphold human rights through business. Reserve your spot using the link below. https://lnkd.in/gc2fhuXP