Business and Society Program

Our Mission

The Business and Society Program is dedicated to developing leaders for a sustainable global society.
Through dialogues and path-breaking research, we create opportunities for executives and educators to
explore new pathways to sustainability and values-based leadership. BSP’s websites, www.CasePlace.org
and www.beyondgreypinstripes.org, are the leading sources of innovative curriculum in top business
schools around the world. The Business and Society Program is an independently-funded policy program
of the Aspen Institute.

The Aspen Institut e- Business and Society Program

The Business and Society Program is an independently funded policy program at the Aspen Institute, dedicated to developing leaders for a sustainable
global society.

Our Vision Businesses committed to addressing complex global problems - led by executives who possess the skills, values and long-term view required
to consider the social impact of business decisions and who employ social innovation as a key element of business strategy.

What We Do We create opportunities for cross-sector dialogue and partner with business executives and educators to explore new pathways to
sustainability, with a special focus on the training and development of business leaders.

We work with educators to integrate social impact management (PDF) into research and teaching. We convene academic and business leaders to explore
the interdependence of business and wider society and the role of management education in bringing about change. We invest in innovation in MBA
programs and conduct research to understand and track change in business education and student attitudes. Our websites,
www.BeyondGreyPinstripes.org and www.CasePlace.org, are the leading sources of innovative curriculum in top business schools around the world.

Signature Programs with Business Leaders

The Aspen Corporate Values Strategy Group (CVSG) seeks to re-

introduce long-term bias in corporate and investment decision-making. A
forum for corporations and institutional investors to identify and promote
changes in policy, business practice, and investment practice for long-term
competitiveness, CVSG most recently hosted convenings in January and
March 2007. "Long-term competitiveness" includes the critical issues of
managing to differing time frames; focusing on forward-looking, strategic
metrics as indications of corporate health; and restoring trust in U.S.
business.

When business managers and leaders with the right combination of courage
and vision leverage business know-how and capacity in pursuit
of solutions to our most complex global challenges, extraordinary things
can happen. Achieving positive, systemic change depends on better
understanding how social innovation takes root in businesses. In Nov
2006, First Movers: Next Steps - Learning Together about Leading
Innovation took place in Chicago, bringing together business executives
and learning professionals to mine the best stories and examples of
business-led social innovation.
The Aspen Institute's Center for Business Education

CHANGING THE WAY THE WORLD DOES BUSINESS ONE MBA CLASSROOM AT A TIME.

The Aspen Institute's Center for Business Education encourages future business leaders to innovate at the
intersection of corporate profits and social impacts. Our goal is bold and long-term: to radically re-orient
the MBA degree to embrace the principles of corporate citizenship and sustainability.

Our Signature Programs include:

NETWORKS

We connect faculty doing innovative work in business schools. Our faculty networks cultivate new
curriculum and emerging research agendas.

• Teaching Innovation Program

 • Corporate Governance and Accountability Project
• Aspen Faculty Scholars

Our events and networks engage over 1,000 individuals each year.

TEACHING RESOURCES

We create and disseminate materials that introduce new ideas in the classroom.

• Caseplace.org, a free on-line resource of case studies, syllabi and innovative teaching materials
on business and sustainability.
• Giving Voice to Values
• A Closer Look Series, a monthly white paper on topical social and environmental issues in
business education.
• Social and Environmental Impact Network (SEIN) @ SSRN, an “open access” library of academic
research, class notes and sample exams.

Our websites attract over 75,000 visits monthly.

AWARDS

We recognize exceptional teaching and research in MBA programs around the globe.

• Beyond Grey Pinstripes, our biennial survey and alternate ranking of business schools.
• Faculty Pioneer Awards, for trailblazing integration of social and environmental issues.
• Dissertation Awards

The Center maintains close ties with over 100 MBA programs in 23 countries.
Publications and Speeches

Publications

• The New Rigor: Beyond the Right Answer (Sept 2006)

What differentiates an abstract value statement from a dedicated business plan in corporate
decisionmaking? Co-authored by Nancy McGaw, this article from the Harvard Management
Update, a newsletter of Harvard Business School Publishing, recommends ten action steps f
• The HBR List: Breakthrough Ideas for 2006 (Feb 2006)
What differentiates an abstract value statement from a dedicated business plan in corporate
decisionmaking? Co-authored by Nancy McGaw, this article from the Harvard Management
Update, a newsletter of Harvard Business School Publishing, recommends ten action steps for
meaningfully integrating corporate value into everyday management practice.
• Put Your Values to Work (Jan 2006)
What differentiates an abstract value statement from a dedicated business plan in corporate
decisionmaking? Co-authored by Nancy McGaw, this article from the Harvard Management
Update, a newsletter of Harvard Business School Publishing, recommends ten action steps for
meaningfully integrating corporate value into everyday management practice.
• Keynote Address to the AACSB International Deans, February 10, 2003: The State of Affairs for
Management Education and Social Responsibility (Dec 2005)
Reprinted by the Academy of Management Learning & Education, this speech in corporate
decisionmaking? Co-authored by Nancy McGaw, this article from the Harvard Management
Update, a newsletter of Harvard Business School Publishing, recommends ten action steps for
meaningfully integrating corporate value into everyday management practice.
• Get Aggressive About Passivity (Nov 2005)
What differentiates an abstract value statement from a dedicated business plan in corporate
decisionmaking? Co-authored by Nancy McGaw, this article from the Harvard Management
Update, a newsletter of Harvard Business School Publishing, recommends ten action steps for
meaningfully integrating corporate value into everyday management practice.
• Developing Leaders for a Sustainable Global Society (Sept/Oct 2005)
Asking business leaders to make decisions that produce superior financials and simultaneously
contribute to social progress and protect environmental quality is a tall order. Nancy McGaw,
 Deputy Director at the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program (BSP), shares the results
of BSP's research into leadership development with representatives from firms around the world.
• Training Managers for the Future (Feb 2005)
In the wake of corporate scandels, this article by Mary Gentile explores the challenges of
corporate governance that need to be addressed in order to re-train business's managers and
leaders. Originally published in the February 2005 issue of E Journal USA, a publication of the
U.S. Department of State.

Publications Archive

Speeches

• Developing Leaders for a Sustainable Society

Nancy McGaw presented this paper at the Gallup Leadership Summit, "Leadership and
Organizational Performance," held in Lincoln, NE on June 11, 2004.
• Corporate Governance and Accountability
This paper was presented by Mary Gentile at the 3rd Colloquium of the European Academy of
Business in Society (EABIS). The conference, entitled "The Challenges of Sustainable Growth:
Integrating Societal Expectations in Business," was held on September 27-28, 2004 in Ghent,
Belgium.
• AACSB International Deans Conference Keynote Speech
This speech addresses the state of affairs for management education and social responsibility.
Keynote address to the AACSB International Deans Conference by Judith Samuelson, Founder
and Executive Director of The Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program. Written by Mary
C. Gentile and Judith Samuelson. Delivered February 10, 2003.
• The Conference Board Corporate Contributions Council Speech
“Leadership and Values: Moving Beyond the Ethics Debate.” Here, Judith Samuelson, Founder
and Executive Director of The Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program, lays out the key
challenges facing business today in the arenas of ethics and CSR. Delivered September 22, 2003.
• Liderazgo y Valores: más allá del debate sobre la ética
Judith Samuelson, fundadora y directora ejecutiva del programa Negocios y Sociedad del
Instituto Aspen, establece los retos que las empresas enfrentan actualmente in las áreas de ética
y responsabilidad social corporativa.

Most of our papers and reports can be downloaded in PDF format free of charge. If you would like to
obtain printed copies, please contact us at info@aspenbsp.org. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required for
reading PDF files. It can be downloaded, free of charge, by clicking here.

These papers and a wealth of other interesting cases, papers and teaching materials on Social Impact
Management are also available from CasePlace.org.