Discussion: View Thread

CALL FOR PAPERS

(1st announcement – February, 2016)

4^th BERGAMO-WHARTON JOINT CONFERENCE

"The Social Responsibility of Business Revisited"

Doctoral and Young Researcher Workshop

University of Bergamo, Italy

1-2 July 2016

Submission Deadline:

Paper Proposal: March, 31

Full paper: May, 1^st

The Department of Management, Economics and Quantitative Methods of the University of Bergamo and the Department of Legal Studies and Business Ethics of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania have been collaborating on several conferences in the last decade. We now propose a new format, a Doctoral and Young Researcher Workshop. Its focus will be a perennial topic, the social responsibility of business.

Fifty years ago, the seminal work of Milton Friedman proposed that the social responsibility of business is to increase profits. Many scholars have taken his view as axiomatic while other scholars have argued against it or offered alternatives. We invite authors to submit new work that addresses aspects of this topic from different theoretical, practical, and managerial perspectives.

The Doctoral Workshop is an opportunity for advanced PhD students and young scholars to present their research and discuss it with colleagues and academics from international and Italian universities. In addition to facilitating intellectual exchange, the program supports the development of a global network of young researchers belonging to different disciplines interested in business ethics, business and society, corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

Participants will obtain insights on the writing of publishable journal papers, the selection of research methods, as well as feedback on their own research ideas.

Workshop conveners:

Gianfranco Rusconi, University of Bergamo

Silvana Signori, University of Bergamo

Alan Strudler, Wharton - University of Pennsylvania

Workshop format

Each participant is assigned a slot of about 30-45 minutes for presentation, feedback from discussants and open discussion.

In order to be able to fully contribute to the discussions and help their fellows' research, participants are encouraged to prepare by reading all essays and full papers prior to the workshop. Essays and papers will be distributed electronically before the Workshop.

PhD student's presentations will alternate with keynote speeches.

Keynote speakers:

R. Edward Freeman

Freeman has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Washington University, and a B.A. in Mathematics and Philosophy from Duke University. He was recently awarded an honorary doctorates (DHC) in economics from Comillas University in Madrid, The Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki and an honorary doctorate in Management Science from Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands for his work on stakeholder theory and business ethics. Throughout his career he has received a number of teaching awards from the Wharton School, The Carlson School, the Darden School, the University of Virginia, the State of Virginia and the Academy of Management. He has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the World Resources Institute and Aspen Institute, the Humboldt University Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Society for Business Ethics. Professor Freeman serves as co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Business Ethics.

Freeman is a lifelong student of philosophy, martial arts and the blues. He is a co-principal in Red Goat Records, LLC found at redgoatrecords.com.

Heidi von Weltzien Høivik

Dr. phil., Dr. h.c. Heidi von Weltzien Høivik is professor emeritus of Business Ethics and Leadership at the Norwegian School of Management. She is a Fellow of the Harvard Executive Program of the Institute of Education Management, and a Fellow of the Harvard Program of International Negotiations. She has served as executive member of the Caux Round Table, of Transparency International Norway and of the International Society for Business, Ethics and Economics (ISBEE). For eight years she was president of the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN) and was honored for her work with an honorary doctorate degree. Among her publications her book Moral Leadership in Action, Building and Sustaining Moral Competence in European Organizations (2002) stands out.

She still works as a consultant to business organizations and is a sought after speaker at international conferences.

Brief speeches

During the workshop brief speeches on specific topics will be made. Tentative themes are: Business ethics and legal studies, CSR in entrepreneurial firms and family business, CSR and strategies, CSR and corporate governance, CSR and sustainability, etc.

Target group and eligibility

The target group of the workshop is PhD students and young scholars who aim at an academic career in the fields of business ethics, business and society, corporate social responsibility and sustainability. The workshop is open to PhD students who have already completed a substantial part of their dissertation project.

A limited number of non-presenting students may attend the workshop as guests and discussants. Interested students should send the request to bwconference@unibg.it.

Applications

Applicants are requested to email a CV and a long abstract (paper proposal) of about 750 words by the end of March. If the proposal is accepted, we will require to send a full paper for distribution to discussants and workshop participants by May, 1^st. Papers should not exceed 8.000 words, references included.

Proposals and full papers have to be sent to the scientific committee at: bwconference@unibg.it

Deadlines:

Proposals submission: March, 31

Notification of acceptance: April, 15

Papers submission: May, 1

Registration: May, 31

Selection criteria

Participants will be selected on the basis of the following criteria:

1. Relevance of the research issues addressed

2. Theoretical/methodological novelty

3. Clarity of essay

4. Potential contribution

Language

The official language of the conference will be English.

Fees

Subscription fee is of 150€.

Sponsorship and awards for participants will be eventually notified and disclosed subsequently.

Venue

Università degli Studi di Bergamo

Via dei Caniana, 2

24127 Bergamo (Italy)

Other information

Other information like a list of recommended hotels, information about the city of Bergamo, conference programme, etc. will follow at www.unibg.it/bwconference

Contacts: bwconference@unibg.it.

                                                                                 In collaboration with:

************************************************************************

Silvana Signori

Università degli Studi di Bergamo

Dipartimento di Scienze aziendali, economiche e metodi quantitativi

Department of Management, economics and quantitative methods

Via dei Caniana, 2

Bergamo (BG)- Italy

Osservatorio CORES – su consumi, reti e pratiche di economie sostenibili www.unibg.it/cores