Smith joins global responsible leadership alliance
Posted on March 16, 2023
Kingston, ON – Smith School of Business is pleased to announce that it has joined a global alliance of business schools dedicated to promoting responsible leadership, research and education.
Recognizing the enormous role business can and must play in helping solve global issues, the Council on Business & Society (the CoBS) brings together leading business schools from around the world to create and disseminate knowledge about these issues and train future business leaders to solve them. Member schools recognize the need for a multicultural approach on global issues, practices and projects, seeking to bring greater value to their students, stakeholders and to the public by combining the strengths of their institutions.
“The CoBS is a global alliance of leading business schools, the members of which are known for their teaching and research excellence and for their meaningful impact on companies and organizations. It is committed to positively changing the world by educating tomorrow’s responsible leaders to bring sustainable solutions to business, society, and the planet. We are therefore delighted to welcome Smith School of Business, Canada, as the 9th member of this purposeful alliance," said Vincenzo Vinzi, Dean of ESSEC Business School and President of the Council on Business & Society.
The CoBS launched in 2011 with four founding members: ESSEC Business School (France, Singapore, Morocco); Keio Business School (Japan); FGV-EAESP (Brazil); and School of Management Fudan University (China), rounding out its global ranks in subsequent years with Warwick Business School (U.K.); Trinity Business School (Ireland); IE Business School (Spain); Stellenbosch Business School (South Africa); and, most recently, Smith School of Business (Canada).
“We are proud to be the first North American partner school in the Council for Business and Society. It’s an honour to be part of an influential group of global business schools that are committed to responsible leadership and the common good. We are excited to be deepening our collaboration with other schools to find solutions to the world’s most pressing issues,” said Wanda Costen, Dean, Smith School of Business.
The CoBS is dedicated to promoting its member schools’ expertise in responsible leadership and sustainable business practice. The Council creates and disseminates materials to encourage a multicultural perspective among students, academics and practitioners, and provides visibility for the member schools’ research, programs and events with a responsible business, management and leadership dimension.
The Council produces editorial resources featuring thought leadership that are free to the public, including its CoBS Insights platform and Global Voice, the alliance’s quarterly magazine, featuring the global perspectives of faculty and student experts from member schools in the areas of business, management and leadership, and business, society and the planet. The CoBS is also producing a book series, Focus on Responsible Business, together with Routledge.
The CoBS also runs several inter-school faculty-student initiatives in the field of CSR, including a faculty exchange and research initiative, forums focused on issues at the crossroads of business and society, and the annual student CSR article competition.
Finally, the alliance engages faculty, students, business leaders, practitioners, NGOs and policy-makers to explore how business can positively contribute to society, the planet and the common good, to offer knowledge and solutions to today’s major business and society issues. The Council regularly collaborates with groups such as the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative, the Global Business School Network (GBSN), the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG), as well as social enterprises and other NGOs.
The Council on Business & Society
The Council on Business & Society (The CoBS), visionary in its conception and purpose, was created in 2011, and is dedicated to promoting responsible leadership and tackling issues at the crossroads of business and society including sustainability, diversity, ethical leadership and the place responsible business has to play in contributing to the common good. Follow the CoBS on CoBSTwitter and CoBSLinkedIn.
About Smith School of Business
Smith School of Business at Queen’s University is renowned for its excellence, innovation and leadership in business education. From establishing the first undergraduate business degree over a century ago to creating groundbreaking programs and courses in emerging areas including artificial intelligence, fintech, analytics, cultural diversity, entrepreneurship, team dynamics, social impact and more, Smith is at the forefront of preparing students for the business marketplace. In addition to its rich tradition of academic and teaching excellence, Smith is known for delivering an outstanding learning and development experience. Small class sizes, personal attention, individual and team coaching, opportunities for specialization, and a deep commitment to student success characterize the Smith experience.