Social responsibility key to successful business
They will know it "is about companies integrating on a voluntary basis, social and environmental concerns in their overall business operations and in their interaction with shareholders," said Gary McGann, chief executive officer, Jefferson Smurfit Group.
He was addressing the first in a series of briefings, jointly run by the National College of Ireland and the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, called "Leadership, Accountability and Partnership Issues in Corporate Responsibility".
The aim is to engage business leaders in the debate on corporate social responsibility and its implications for the future.
National College of Ireland president Professor Joyce O'Connor, warned that business schools risked going out of business if corporate social responsibility was excluded from their curriculums.
"The greatest critique of MBA training at the moment is that it is out of date. If teaching on corporate social Responsibility doesn't come in a fairly short time, businesses will lose interest not in the topic, but in business schools."
