World-leading business schools and major global corporations will gather at Nottingham University Business School for a major summit on corporate social responsibility and sustainable business.

The conference of The Academy of Business in Society (EABIS) takes place at the Nottingham University Business School on Tuesday 31 January 2012.  Partly prompted by the global financial crisis, the group was established ten years ago as the largest-ever research and teaching project on the case for social responsibility in business.

EABIS now has more than 100 members worldwide made up of major players in business higher education including Harvard and ISEAD as well as global companies like IBM, Microsoft, Unilever and Shell. The two-day conference will see delegates review the development of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in management education and to develop a roadmap for the future of business schools in both teaching and research. 

Dean of Nottingham University Business School, Professor Martin Binks, said: "As universities and businesses come to terms with the increasingly complex and uncertain economic conditions, we are proud to host this timely and important conference. The business education community has a responsibility to promote sustainable leadership and to equip our students with the skills and knowledge they need to deal with a volatile and complex business environment. We anticipate that this gathering of influential leaders from companies and business schools will shape the future of education and research in this area so that it really can make a difference."

Director of the Business School's International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, Professor Jeremy Moon, said: "Business schools face a key challenge in thinking about how to educate future business leaders. First, there is the question of how to integrate issues of ethics and morality, responsibility and sustainability into core business programmes. Secondly, there is the question of how to do so effectively such that lessons learned are factored into graduates' future actions and decisions. These are some of the questions that the conference will be addressing."

During the EABIS conference, business school Deans and senior executives will work to agree on a new definition of 'business sustainability' in the context of the current global financial crisis and significant changes in the global economy. They will also be using their wide expertise and experience to examine the current state of knowledge about sustainability and its application in companies and learning institutions.

The conference will examine and report back on what real progress has been made in the past decade in the global business school industry, the corporate world and in other management training areas. Delegates will also discuss ideas and prospects for progress in the field of global CSR over the next ten years.

Conference proceedings will be published in a Special Issue of the Journal of Management Development.