Launch of PRME Chapter China

28 May 2021

With the strong support of the PRME Secretariat, PRME Board Member Prof. Haifeng Huang is organizing the first PRME China Academic Committee with a broad representation of scholars in the field of business ethics, sustainable development, responsible management, corporate social responsibility from Chinese universities and research institutes. PRME Chapter China will be officially established in late May/early June 2021.

The call for establishing PRME Chapter China received widespread support and encouragement from the community. A high-energy team led by Prof. Haifeng Huang was established six months ago following close collaboration and transparent communication. The core team includes Prof. Hualiang Lu from Changzhou University, Dr. Xuanwei Cao from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Prof. Yi Guo from Beijing Technology and Business University, Prof. Haiying Lin from Hainan University, and Dr. Huanan Wu from Peking University.

The Meeting also received significant contribution from Changzhou University and Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University as well as supportive work from other universities and institutes including Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing EDUI International Environment Technologies Research Institute, Peking University, Tsinghua University, China Renmin University, Zhejiang University, Capital University of Economics and Business, and the subordinated institutes of Ecological Development Union International.

On 28-30 May, the first PRME China Academic Committee Meeting will be hosted at Changzhou University. The Meeting will discuss broadly related issues of responsible and sustainable business education in the Chinese context. A working plan and objectives, as well as governance of PRME Chapter China, would also be discussed in this Meeting. The establishment of PRME Chapter China will be announced during the event.

The establishment of PRME Chapter China is a historic milestone in the cause of building a truly global PRME community. We expect more active engagement of Chinese colleagues in our community and large-scale positive impacts on promoting the development of PRME in China.

For any questions related to engagement with PRME Chapter China, please contact CAO Xuanwei (Xuanwei.Cao@xjtlu.edu.cn) or HUANG Haifeng (huanghf@phbs.pku.edu.cn)

2 March 2021

In light of a recent news item which raised a question about the integrity of our membership system and a certain PRME Signatory, the PRME Secretariat would like to clarify a few facts regarding the concern:

• The school in question does in fact meet the two basic requirements to be a Signatory of the initiative: being publicly recognised and degree-granting. The school in question does grant degrees which are accredited and recognised by various government authorities, including the government where the school is located.

• The named Professor did in fact attend a PRME Chapter Regional Meeting in February 2020. Originally, there was confusion regarding the Professor's presence as he sometimes went by one of his two last names, rather than both, so a PRME spokesperson initially had difficulty confirming his attendance.

• There was a simple mistake in the press release by the institution in question which mislabeled the name of the Chapter holding the meeting. This has since been corrected.

• Any delays in response time on the related queries were a result of the time taken to do a thorough review of the situation and contact the relevant parties.

The PRME Secretariat team has done the required due diligence and, to the best of our knowledge, we believe there are no further issues to be resolved.

PRME always welcomes constructive scrutiny and is committed to upholding the Six Principles laid out in our mandate.

23 September 2020, Virtual Event

For a third consecutive year, the PRME Innovation Challenge brings together students from Advanced PRME Signatories to engage with companies to build sustainable business solutions addressing their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) / corporate social responsibility objectives. The programme aims to connect companies with next-generation innovators and entrepreneurs to catalyze corporate innovation which advances the SDGs.

The two participating companies this year are Manitou Group and Rockwell Automation. They have each defined a challenge specific to their own business and two teams of students have been working with each of the companies to develop a solution to the company-specific challenge.

Jury member Dr. Tom Hunsaker, Associate Dean of Innovation at Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, noted: “The PRME Innovation Challenge is a fantastic model for building sustainability momentum – bright young minds paired with enterprise sponsors to solve particular SDG-responsive challenges for shared benefit.” At the same time, another distinguished jury member, Ms. Nkiruka Chiemelu, Senior Manager, Global Operations, UN Global Compact said: “Initiatives like the PRME Innovation Challenge demonstrate how PRME is investing in the future of business – both by shaping new mindsets among the next generation of business leaders while also developing innovative solutions at the intersection of the SDGs and technology.”

Today, on the sideline of the 75th Annual UN General Assembly Week and the UN Global Compact’s Uniting Business LIVE events, the 2020 PRME Innovation Challenge Finale showcased two student teams, one from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in the Philippines and the other from Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in Denmark. The two teams virtually presented their innovative solutions to the company-specific challenges in front of a five-member jury panel and an audience of over 400 online viewers from the wider PRME and UN Global Compact communities.

The esteemed jury members, representing business, academia and the UN, evaluated the student teams’ presentations based on a set of criteria, such as originality, feasibility, clarity of presentation, and overall impact of their solutions. After careful deliberation, the jury arrived at a winner of this year’s Challenge – the team from the Asian Institute of Management who will be awarded a certificate of excellence in corporate innovation, as well as a monetary reward of USD 1000 each towards their education expenses.

Jury member Dr. Adel Guitouni, Associate Professor and Associate Co-Chair of the Victoria Forum at the Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria noted: “Both AIM and CBS teams did an outstanding job, and they made their institutions proud. It was a hard job to choose a winner. I encourage both Rockwell Automation and Manitou Group to follow through with the proposed recommendations. I am sure they will reap the benefits.”

PRME will continue providing such engagement opportunities for students from Advanced PRME Signatory schools in the future with the help of key stakeholders and businesses interested in supporting the achievement of the SDGs in cooperation with bright young minds.

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Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation Inc. is an American provider of industrial automation and information technology. Brands include Allen-Bradley and FactoryTalk software. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs over 23,000 people and has customers in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Manitou Group

Manitou is a French heavy equipment manufacturer that makes forklifts, cherry pickers, telehandlers, and other heavy equipment. Manitou started in France in 1957 when Marcel Braud designed the first forklift truck for use in rough terrain. Its headquarters are in Ancenis.

Asian Institute of Management Team

Tonophine Flores, Jaganath Taduri, Rahul Nagaraj and Venghat Bhalaji

Copenhagen Business School Team

Sara Rolén, Ida Kristine Hansen, Axel Jerre Larsson and Laura Hönig

Jury members

Nkiruka Chiemelu, Senior Manager, Global Operations, UN Global Compact, Ann Rosenberg, former Senior Vice President UN Partnerships at SAP & Global Head of SAP Next- Gen, Dr. Tom Hunsaker, Associate Dean of Innovation, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, Dr. Mohan V. Avvari, Associate Professor of Strategy and Innovation and Director of Research, Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Dr. Adel Guitouni, Associate Professor & Associate Co-Chair of the Victoria Forum, Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria

23 September 2020

Alongside the United Nations 75th Annual General Assembly week, the UN Global Compact virtually convened high-level representatives from business, government, the UN and civil society for the three-forum event Uniting Business LIVE, consisting of the Private Sector Forum, the Global Impact Forum, and the SDG Business Forum. Uniting Business LIVE took place from 21 to 23 September and focused on “uniting business for a better world” in the spirit of “building back better.” Yesterday, at the Global Impact Forum, PRME hosted two key panels - a Session Panel on Sustainable Finance in Education and a Main Stage Panel on the Impact-Based University.

The first panel invited finance scholars to discuss the status of sustainable finance in the classroom today, noting how far both research and pedagogy have come in the last five years. Dave Chen (Kellogg School of Management), Costanza Consolandi (University of Siena), and Basma Majerbi (Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria) joined moderator Andreas Rasche (Copenhagen Business School) on stage to discuss the urgent need among finance professionals and in the financial sector for skills to address ESG issues. The panel focused on how SDG-related business and management education plays a crucial role in transforming the financial sector to support global achievement of the SDGs. It also explored what SDG skills, tools and mindsets are needed to support a greener and more equitable society, and how business schools respond best to developing such skills.

The second panel took to the main stage to offer diverse geographical perspectives on the notion of an impact-based university and to challenge the traditional measurement of this definition. Andrew Jack (Financial Times), Tim Mescon (AACSB International), Sanjeev Khagram (Thunderbird School of Global Management, ASU), Enase Okonedo (Lagos Business School), and Wilfred Mijnhardt (Rotterdam School of Management) actively discussed the urgent need for management scholars and business schools to achieve greater impact that is of relevance in addressing grand societal challenges. This session was led and moderated by Urs Jager (INCAE Business School).

17 June 2020

Dear PRME community,

I am honoured and humbled by the appointment as Chair of PRME Board. We are on a journey that is more urgent and more important than we had ever imagined.

PRME’s mission is to create a global movement and thought leadership for responsible management education. The need for PRME in the world has been reinforced by a global pandemic crisis, racial injustice and climate change. Today, it is more important than ever for management education to remain steadfast in its priority: to develop responsible leaders who drive business as a force for good, with the mindset and ability to deliver change and societal progress.

I look forward to working with colleagues at PRME and the UN Global Compact as we aspire to achieve targets set in the Sustainable Development Goals.

I am very pleased to announce the members of the new PRME Board. They have all generously agreed to contribute to setting the strategic direction for the future of PRME. They are all dedicated to the PRME Principles, and each one of them is an experienced and committed leader in the area of responsible management education. Board members are PRME supporters willing and able to advance PRME’s vision, acting in a personal, honorary and unpaid capacity.

The PRME Board comprises five constituency groups —management schools (i.e. Deans, Directors, faculty, students, etc.), international management and leadership development associations, international academic communities, UN Global Compact and United Nations.

The new PRME Board will have its first constitutive meeting on 25 August 2020.

It is my pleasure to present to you the members of the new PRME Board.

Sincerely,

Ilian Mihov

Chair of PRME Board