Press Release

For Further Information
Cheryl Kiser
kiserch@bc.edu
617.552.8948
617.552.4545

March 5, 2002

CONFERENCE LOOKS AT ROLE OF BUSINESS IN SOCIETY

Miami – The business climate in the US has been forever altered by the events of the past six months. On September 11, the public grieved with corporate America, and witnessed first-hand its power to help a nation heal and rebuild. In January, Enron filed for bankruptcy, and the world glimpsed a dark side of big business, one in which power is used to deceive and manipulate the public in pursuit of narrow self interests.

On March 17-19, some 300 corporate citizenship professionals from companies across the nation and the globe will gather here to discuss these and other events and begin the process of identifying their organizations’ new role in this changed environment.

The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College will convene its 12th annual International Corporate Citizenship Conference at the Hotel Intercontinental. The theme, Leading Corporate Citizenship in a Changed Word, will anchor the two days of discussions.

“Since September 11, when corporations poured hundreds of millions of dollars into relief and recovery efforts, many firms have surrendered some of their hard-edged thinking to embrace a more humanistic view of business with the understanding that every action they take has a consequence. They’ve learned that by acting as community leaders, they emerge as corporate leaders,” said Center for Corporate Citizenship Executive Director Bradley K. Googins. “With the Enron debacle following so closely on the heels, corporate executives are seeing for the first time that their actions and decisions affect not just their shareholders, but their employees, their employees’ families, the communities where they do business, indeed, our entire society.”

The conference will carry through on the momentum of the past six months, helping participants begin the process of forging a more prominent role for citizenship in the organizations, and consequently, a more meaningful role for business in society.

In addition to a full agenda of conversations and networking events, the conference will feature keynote speakers Terrence Deal, author of several books, including Leading With Soul: an Uncommon Journey of Spirit; Simon Zadek, CEO of The Institute of Social and Ethical AccountAbility and author The Civil Corporation: The New Economy of Corporate Citizenship; Jerry Sternin, visiting scholar, Tufts University and co-author, The Power of Positive Deviancy; and Tom Fiedler, executive editor, Miami Herald.

The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, part of the Carroll School of Management, provides research, executive education, consultation and convenings on issues of corporate citizenship. The Center has more than 300 corporate members across the globe.