Going fast or going far? The journey to global responsibility 🚲

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If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go with others.

- African proverb possibly of Luo origin

Dear Partners, Associates and friends of GRLI -

I was two-thirds into the 100km mountain bike race from Uniondale to Knysna when it became abundantly clear that by riding at my heart rate limit too early on, in stead of sticking with my category bunch, I had burnt too many matches. I was making good time, but I was also about to hit the proverbial wall.

The race to make global responsibility real in how we learn, live and lead is a marathon rather than a sprint. Nimble, fast and unencumbered may be useful and exciting in shorter sprints, however facing up to our collective goals and global challenges necessitates going with others and working together.

Collective momentum leading to deeper and more sustained impact was fully evident at the three day Deans and Directors’ Cohort hosted by Antwerp Management School recently. Actions arose across a range of topics such as cross-school collaboration, diversification of voices and perspectives, peer-mentoring, best-practice in impact measurement and more. Some of the notable actions are:

Confirmation of the next collaborative course running March to May 2023 (dates and modules here -- non-presenting institutions are welcome to enroll students as well)
Extending the Loyola Marymount University case competition to global participants (more in the news item below).
Piloting shared global immersion trips involving student cohorts and faculty from multiple participating Schools.
Initiating a framework on knowledge and skills required for achieving globally responsible impact.
Broadening the Deans' learning partner places on the Cohort to allow for a broader and more diverse participant mix.

In consultation with University of Sharjah we agreed that the next Cohort check-in will take place virtually during March with the in-person event to be held late October (details to follow).

In this newsletter, we highlight a number of partner initiatives, share a recent podcast, share the latest Responsible Leadership dialogue video as well as the latest issue of JGR, and invite Partner and Associate input to our AGM which is scheduled place for 30 November.

Please write if you have any feedback, questions or suggestions on any of the items in this newsletter.

Warm wishes,

John North
Executive Director -- GRLI Foundation

Forward

Your input: 30 Nov 'All Gathering Momentum'

A reminder that our All Gathering Momentum event is scheduled for 30 November.

We invite you to contribute to and inform the format of the gathering. GRLI Partners and Associates are encouraged to get in touch and add agenda items, as your input and objectives shape the flow of the programme. This is an opportunity to reconnect with the GRLI vision, collaborate and share updates from your work.

>> Add agenda items here.

Joint sustainability survey

With input from the Deans Cohort our Associates at Sasin School of Management created a short survey for its alumni and corporate community about companies’ motivation, priorities and challenges with respect to their sustainability transition. The questions in this survey are structured based on insights from the sustainability transition journey of a large number of multinationals, and answers will support Sasin to identify differences in characteristics and evolution of the sustainability journeys between geographies, which would be a benefit to all. GRLI partners and associates are kindly asked to invite their alumni and corporate networks to respond to the survey. Insights from the survey will be shared back with us in November.

>> You can complete the survey here. Contact Geert-Jan van der Zanden for more information.

Podcast: Think Big. Start Small. Act Now.

Wayne Visser recently hosted Claire Maxwell, Anders Aspling and John North for a conversation on his podcast series on Thriving. Wayne explores the regeneration movement in conversation with various thought and action leaders and in this particular episode they covered:

The critical importance of building trust and holding courageous conversations that help us navigate the liminal space between extinction and hope
Why freedom, stability, regulation and imagination are some of the prerequisites for creating fair societies and the ability to flourish
How constant emergence is necessary for thriving to occur at the level of me (the self), we (the others) and all of us (the system)
Why governance structures need guardians of values, who are custodians of the ethos and spirit of the organisation
How globally responsible leadership is a question to live and grapple with, and the test of leadership is rooted in action

Listen on:
- Apple podcasts
- Spotify
- Buzzsprout
or your favourite podcast platform

Registration: International Business Ethics and Sustainability Case Competition

Registration for LMU’s 2023 International Business Ethics and Sustainability Case Competition is now open.

The competition, held from 10-14 April 2023, takes a hybrid format and includes graduate and undergraduate divisions. Teams choose their own business ethics case, which should relate to one of the seventeen global UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that focus on a wide range of environmental, social and economic issues. Interdisciplinary teams are welcome.

Register before January 31 for Early Bird Pricing.
Download the PDF brochure.
View recordings of the previous winners online.

For more information visit the IBES website or email Chiray Koo.

Responsible Leadership Dialogues

The latest edition of our Responsible Leadership (RL) dialogues is now available. In this series, GRLI Guardian and RL researcher Dr Nicola Pless speaks to entrepreneurs and leaders to surface new insights on the practice and development of globally responsible leadership. In this recording Nicola talks to Dr Joe Madiath, founder of Gram Vikas.

Dr Nicola Pless in conversation with Dr Joe Madiath, founder of Gram Vikas.

HESI Partner Programme for SDG Integration

Applications are now available for the HESI Partner Programme.

The programme supports the creation of a community of shared learning by connecting higher education institutions, networks and student organisations. Programme activities include conducting needs analysis on integrating SDGs in the higher education community; organising knowledge sharing networks; and developing an SDG toolkit.

For more information and to apply visit the website here.

Sulitest Update: Task survey and HLPF Conference
July 6 2022

Our friends at Sulitest are piloting TASK or 'The Assessment of Sustainability Knowledge' during November. TASK will be launched in Spring 2023 and we are inviting students to participate in the pilot. Pilot participants will receive a voucher to complete the official TASK certificate once launched and a TASK Pilot Study Participation Recognition that can be used to communicate your key role in developing this international standard!

Sign up here for the pilot >>

In July the GRLI office was invited to moderate a roundtable conversation at the Sulitest-convened summit linked to the UN High-level Political Forum on making sustainability education part of the DNA of universities.

The event, which featured guest speakers from EFMD, Times Higher Education, and a number of leaders from universities across the globe, included webinar sessions and case studies on how organisations are including sustainability education in their DNA.

Latest issue and open access: Journal of Global Responsibility

Open Access until 31 October

The actual impacts of CSR, strategically or not, on firm performance and on shareholders and stakeholders in different contexts remain controversial or inconclusive in the literature. Studies often doubt about the positive effects of CSR worldwide and regard CSR as a failed public initiative and corporate strategy. In this virtual issue, we have collected several articles that investigate the real impacts of CSR either by new empirical studies or by critical literature reviews. Four papers show significantly positive effects of CSR on organisational survival and competitive advantage at the time of crisis, on the bank earnings in the USA and dividend policy in French non-financial firms, or on reducing incidents of electoral violence in oil-producing communities in Nigeria. Two papers demonstrate that the total outputs and effects of CSR are influenced by corporate governance mechanisms and sustainable board governance.

Furthermore the latest issue of the Journal of Global Responsibility was published last week and the TOC may be accessed here.

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