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SYMPOSIUM:
Strategy and Governance of “Businesses with Purpose”
This symposium seeks to convene top academic scholars together with practitioner experts (e.g. founders, managers, and Chief Sustainability Officers – CSO) to provide novel insights on the new strategies and governance for businesses with purpose, sustainability, and ESG.
We will have the privilege to host Aharon Cohen Moliver (London Business School), Christiane Bode (Imperial College), Nilanjana Dutt (Bocconi), Joel Gehman (George Washington University School of Business), Isabela del Alcazar (Global Head of Sustainability at IE), Javier Goyeneche (CEO and Founder of Ecoalf) , Pablo Sánchez, (President of B Lab Spain), and Nathan Stuck (B Lab Georgia (USA) and Founder of Profitable Purpose Consulting).
The panel will be moderated by Marco Giarratana (IE) and Martina Pasquini (IE).
The objective of the symposium is to start a conversation on new research and business directions on topics related to the balance between profit and sustainability aims, the emergence of a consolidated role of CSO and sustainability divisions within firms, the impact of new metrics and certifications to assess firms’ sustainable performance, and overall, the role of business companies’ and their employees to create social impact.
The takeaway of the event will be the ones of identifying research gaps, business tensions, areas of development in regulations, with a particular attention towards the understanding how data, AI, metrics, and certifications might change the way companies approach their ESG strategies.
The tradition of the series of these symposia has been always directed to create an ecosystem of idea generation and exchange among scholars, policymakers, and industry experts.
The IE University Research Initiative on Businesses with Purpose is gratefully funded by an unrestricted gift from Meta.
The event will be for an online audience. To register to attend on Zoom, please click here
Aharon Cohen Mohliver is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School and was a Visiting Scholar at Yale School of Management. His research, published in top journals including Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Management Science and Strategic Management Journal, focuses primarily on liminal practices – actions taken in a normative “grey area”. Aharon teaches Strategic Management to EMBA, MiM and MiF students in London and Dubai. He earned his B.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from The Hebrew University and holds a Master’s in Finance and Strategy from the Hebrew University and a Ph.D. from Columbia Business School.
Aharon studies how liminal practices emerge and diffuse, and the effect of intermediaries, institutional environments and professionals on macro-level patterns in liminal practice adoption. These include how liminal practices relate to audience perceptions, scandals, strategic choices, profitability and even the ability of firms to command competitive advantage in certain markets. Aharon studies liminal practices in a wide variety of settings; for example, the physician networks fuelling the American prescription drug epidemic, the religious affiliation of nursing homes and elderly neglect and abuse and the strategic use of audiences political polarization to increase profits.
Christiane Bode is an Assistant Professor of Strategy at Imperial College Business School. She received her PhD in Management from INSEAD and holds a master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics (LSE). Her research focuses on the micro-processes underlying the corporate social engagement of firms. Two broad questions shape her research agenda. First she seeks to answer how employees acting as entrepreneurs drive the corporate social engagement of firms and second, she analyzes how firms can use the preferences of employees to create a strategic link between such engagement and firm performance. In recent work, she has also begun to focus more broadly on firm’s non-market strategies in particular in emerging markets by examining for example how different firms engage with the newly implemented CSR law in India. She serves on several editorial review boards including Organization Science and Strategic Management Journal.
Nilanjana “Nel” Dutt is an associate professor at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Dutt was born and raised in India. After pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies in Computer Science and Engineering, Dutt completed her Ph.D. in Strategy at Duke University.
Throughout her academic career, Dutt has focused on a wide range of topics related to sustainability, problem-solving and search, and entrepreneurship. Her Research has been published in numerous top-tier academic journals, and she has been invited to present her work at conferences and seminars around the world. In addition to her research and teaching duties, Dutt is also actively involved in various academic organizations, serves as an associate editor of the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and is the vice-director of the Invernizzi Center for Research on innovation, organization, strategy and entrepreneurship (ICRIOS).
Dutt is widely regarded as a leading expert in her field, and her contributions to the study of management, particularly environmental strategy, have earned her numerous accolades and awards over the years. She is a highly respected member of the academic community, and her work continues to inspire and inform researchers and policymakers around the world.
Joel Gehman is the Thaddeus A. Lindner and Sergius Gambal Professor of Business Ethics and professor of strategic management and public policy at the George Washington University School of Business. He is the author of more than 50 journal articles and book chapters, including publications in Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Management Inquiry, Organization Studies, Research Policy and many more. Professor Gehman’s research investigates how businesses and other organizations can contribute to tackling grand challenges related to sustainable development through strategic practices, technological innovation, and institutional change. He has examined these issues in a wide range of contexts, including B Corporations and benefit corporations; organizational values practices; environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance; hydraulic fracturing and unconventional shale gas development; crowdfunding; natural and biodynamic wine; social entrepreneurship and innovation; and social license to operate, among others. In approaching these questions, Professor Gehman draws on organization theory, together with insights from strategic management, and science and technology studies. Before becoming a professor, Professor Gehman spent 13 years in industry, primarily in the tech industry. Professor Gehman graduated from Cornell University (B.S.) and the Pennsylvania State University (Ph.D.).
Nathan Stuck is an award winning leader in the B Corp community and the Founder of Profitable Purpose Consulting, a culture, impact, and B Corp consultancy. He founded and chairs B Local Georgia and serves on the board of B Academics, a nonprofit committed to research and experiential B Corp learning opportunities.
He is also the Executive Director of BLD Southeast, a regional annual B Corp conference that brings together B Corps from the southeastern United States for a celebration of business as a force for good.
Nathan teaches an MBA course on B Corps at the University of Georgia, is a regular speaker at conferences and on podcasts around the world, and hosts the B The Change Georgia podcast. His first book, Happy Monday: Designing Your Dream Career, was released in 2022, and his TEDx Talk was released in March 2023.
Isabela del Alcázar holds a PhD in molecular biology from the Autonomous University of Madrid and a Master in Biotech Management from IE Business School.
With more than 20 years dedicated to science, Isabela has helped scientists to set up start-ups and thus act as a bridge for scientific advances to revert to society.
Active member of high-impact business initiatives such as the Madrid-MIT consortium (Mvision promoted by the Community of Madrid and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) or the South Summit-SSIS (largest competition of start-ups from southern Europe) and founding partner Polypeptide Therapeutic Solutions, and Biocapital Advisors.
Isabela has also participated as an investor in various innovative projects related to health and sustainability. Today, Isabela holds the position of Global Head of Sustainability at IE University and her mission is to transform the university into a benchmark in sustainability. The transformation of the institution is happening at all levels, academic and operational, and encompasses not only environmental but also social and economic aspects.
Javier Goyeneche was born in Madrid, he has studied in Spain, London and Paris, while participating in internationally recognised equestrian competitions. He studied Business Administration at the European Business School and did a Masters in International Marketing Strategy at Northwestern University in Chicago. In 1995, he founded Fun & Basics, specialising in contemporary handbags and accessories. In just 10 years, Javier expanded the business to 350 outlets and 70 company-owned shops. His achievements in the industry were recognised in 2005 with the Best Young Entrepreneur of Madrid award.
After years in the sector, he was concerned about the amount of waste generated by the fashion industry.
In 2013 he founded ECOALF, named after his sons Alfredo and Álvaro.
Under his leadership, the company has grown positively and now produces an extensive sustainable collection of outerwear, swimwear, casual wear, yoga, footwear and accessories. Javier was awarded the Schwab Foundation’s 2020 Social Innovator of the Year award for revolutionising the fashion industry and leading change towards a sustainable future. The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship is the sister organisation of the World Economic Forum. Positioning Ecoalf as the first fashion brand in the world to receive this award.
In July 2022, Ecoalf was recognised by B Corp as one of the best in the world (Best for the World) positioning the brand in the top 5% of the 5,000 B Corp companies globally in the environment category.
Pablo Sánchez is co-founder and director of the B Lab Spain foundation, an organisation that leads a global movement of people using the power of business to generate positive impact. He holds a PhD in Business Administration from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC, 2010) and a degree in Economics (University of Barcelona, 2001). He has more than 20 years of experience in the field of inclusive business, social impact assessment and corporate sustainability.
He is also co-founder of Roots for Sustainability, a B Corp specialising in projects and organisations, social impact measurement and inclusive business development.
He has worked as a consultant for international organisations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the
Development Bank (IDB), among others, and participated in several applied research projects on inclusive business with companies such as Amanç (Guatemala, Mexico), Coelce (Brazil) or Philips (India).
He has supported the Companies with Purpose Act initiative since its inception by organising and coordinating the working group responsible for the management of this project, and presented the initiative to various media and co-organised the presentation of the Manifesto for the promotion of a new inclusive and sustainable business model, signed by 50 personalities from all over Spain.
Marco S. Giarratana (PhD, 2003, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy) is since 2019 the Vice-Rector of Coordination and Research at IE University in Madrid, Spain. He is full professor at the department of Strategy in the IE Business School. He was previously associate professor at the University Carlos III (Madrid), and full professor at the Bocconi University (Milan). His main research interests focus on the role of synergies inside the streams of diversification, resource redeployment, patents and trademarks, and strategic sustainability. From 2017 to 2019, he was the Chair of Strategy department at IE Business School. From 2020 to 2022 he was visiting professor at the University of Bath (Bath).
Martina Pasquini holds a PhD in B&A and Management from Bocconi University. She is currently Assistant Professor of Strategy at IE University since September 2014. Her research interests are at the intersection of strategy, innovation management and entrepreneurship with a particular attention on the role of demand, users, and communities of values. She has always been fascinated and attracted by companies that engage with different communities and have a social impact. Over the years, she has been granted prestigious research funds by the EU through the Marie-Curie Program, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, and FUNCAS institution for her research in strategies of shared value creation. Her current research deals with identity-based strategies, pro-social investments and initiatives, social and sustainable IPRs and their effect on differentiation advantage and companies’ performance. She is also involved in research in businesses with purpose, particularly B-Corporations. She currently teaches Strategic Management, Innovation Management & Technology Strategy and Research Methods at undergraduate level. She has also taught Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Global Entrepreneurship, Techniques for Innovation Management at Master level in leading European Universities. She regularly attends international conferences such as AoM, SMS, and DRUID and her works have been published in international journals such as Strategic Management Journal, Research Policy, and Journal of Business Venturing. She has been appointed as Representative at large in the Corporate Strategy Division of the Strategic Management Society (2018-2020) and currently she has been elected Global Rep for Europe in the STR division at the AoM, she sits in the executive board of The Case Centre and in the board of the B-Academics, where she chairs the events committee.
