Ashridge Centre for Business and Society

Managing Corporate Community Investment, 30 March - 1 April 2009 and 2-4 November 2009.

This programme examines the key requirements for an effective corporate community investment (CCI) programme and its role within today’s company. In terms of running a programme day-to-day there will be sessions on building employee involvement programmes, evaluating community and business benefits, building effective partnerships, and communicating effectively. The programme also explores different management approaches to CCI; how to conduct a strategic review; and the changing roles of business, government, and the voluntary sector.

Previous participants include Cadbury Schweppes, BT, BSkyB, Standard Life Assurance and Marks & Spencer.

Integrating Corporate Responsibility, 19-21 November 2008 and 6-8 May 2009

The increasing integration of corporate responsibility (CR) and sustainability into companies is changing the skills and knowledge that effective CR and sustainability managers require. This programme has been specifically designed to meet these new requirements. Participants will explore the relationships between CR and key business systems such as risk management and corporate governance. CR specific challenges such as stakeholder engagement, reporting and developing effective partnerships will also be examined. A key theme running throughout the programme will be engaging and influencing colleagues across the company. Participants will have opportunities to examine their own approaches to engaging and influencing colleagues and to learn from best practice.

Previous participants include Novo Nordisk, T-Mobile, ABN Amro Bank, Sainsburys, Pfizer, Reykjavik Energy and First Choice Holidays.

New Ashridge research on ethical financial products on the high street.

New research from Ashridge sponsored by Co-operative Financial Services and supported by Forum for the Future explores the UK consumer market for ethical financial products. The attitudes, opinions, current behaviour and future intentions of the UK public were surveyed and analysed. The focus was on the products most of us buy: bank accounts, mortgages, home and motor insurance, personal loans, personal pensions and credit cards.

Read the executive summary and download the full report.

New Ashridge research on competencies required by CR and Sustainability professionals.

Corporate Responsibility (CR) professionals in leading UK-based companies increasingly see CR as a source of competitive advantage for their company, according to new research by Ashridge in collaboration with the Corporate Responsibility Group (CRG).

The research sought to understand the changing roles of CR professionals and what competencies they require to be effective. Key findings are that, in line with the previous 2005 survey, influencing and communications skills as well as understanding CR topics, such as stakeholder engagement and reporting, remain essential. But in addition, today practitioners are placing much more importance firstly on building and maintaining leadership so that CR is a source of competitive advantage, and secondly the need to understand and work with an ever-broader range of business functions.

Find out more about this research here, with further links to download the full report.

Ashridge partners with International Finance Corporation and others to host workshop on training materials for managing community relations in the extractive sector.

January 10 2008. Ashridge partnered with the International Finance Corporation, London School of Economics and Business-Community Synergies to host a workshop to give industry executives a sneak preview of new training materials on corporate community engagement in the extractive sector. The half-day workshop was co-sponsored by Chevron, Rio Tinto, Shell, and BG Group

The workshop gave industry executives a sneak preview of new IFC sponsored training materials aimed at building capacity for more participatory engagement between extractive companies, local communities and other actors. The materials, developed by Ashridge, Business-Community Synergies and LSE, can be delivered in a range of situations to audiences including extractive industry executives, representatives from local communities and the specialists, NGOs and consultants who work with these groups. The training materials will be published early 2008.