OBJECTIVES

 

The goal of the Responsible Research Roundtable was to develop a SHARED UNDERSTANDING and a JOINT COMMITMENT for a systemic move toward business knowledge co-production by academia and its stakeholders (business, institutions, civil society) for the betterment of society.

 

The specific action-oriented objectives we aspired to achieve were:

 

  1. Why? IDENTIFY BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF ENGAGED RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS

To identify benefits and challenges of knowledge co-production by academia and its stakeholders in business research. To co-develop ways of overcoming these obstacles and co-create innovative methods of such collaboration.

  1. What? GENERATE DEMAND LED RESEARCH

To share critical business and societal challenges and craft an impactful research agenda locally, regionally and globally, that would benefit from collaboration among governments, non-governmental organizations, businesses and academia to address them.

  1. How? SOLVE WICKED PROBLEMS THROUGH KNOWLEDGE CO-CREATION

To frame, encourage and reinforce large scale, cross-disciplinary and multi-sector knowledge co-creation initiatives to address wicked systemic challenges for sustainable, equitable and fair societal progress.

 

Academic stakeholder groups 1. Deans, 2. Senior scholars (PhD and P&T committees), 3. Journal editors, 4. Professional association leaders, 5. University leaders, 6. Accreditation bodies.

Societal stakeholder groups: 1. Business, 2. Non-profit, 3. Government, 4. Funders (public and private), 5. Academic-Practitioner Research Centers, and 6. Selected Media.

 

Agenda

 

The format combined panel conversations with small group discussions involving all invited participants, followed by a plenary sharing and synthesis exercise.

 

Day 1, Monday June 28, 2021

 

Session 1         Welcome, Introduction, and Agenda

3:00 – 3:10       Chair: Mary Jo Bitner, Arizona State University

                         Co-Chair: David Reibstein, The Wharton School

                         Welcome: Dean Francisco Veloso, Imperial College Business School

 

Session 2:        WHY? Benefits and Challenges of Engaged Research Partnerships

3:10 – 3:50       Panelists:

  • Mikael Homanen, Principles for Responsible Investments
  • Andrew Hoffman, University of Michigan

                        Chair: Mary Jo Bitner, Arizona State University

                        Co-Chair: David Reibstein, The Wharton School

 

  1. What are the benefits of engaging business, institutions and civil society throughout the process of business research?
  2. What are the challenges (barriers, obstacles) of multi-stakeholder collaboration?
  3. How can we overcome these challenges and create beneficial ways of collaboration?

Session 3         WHAT? Demand-Led Research

3:50 – 4:30       Panelists:

  • Tima Bansal, University of Western Ontario
  • Keith Tuffley, Sustainability & Corporate Transitions group, Citi

                        Chair: Serguei Netessine, The Wharton School

                        Co-Chair: Bill Glick, Rice University

  1. What challenges in business and society would benefit from academic-practitioner collaborative research?
  2. What can be done to elicit demand-led questions from business, institutions and civil society?
  3. What can motivate scholars to focus on these challenging yet important research topics for both business and society?

4:30 – 4:35       Break

 

Session 4         Breakout Group Discussion: Co-generation of demand-led research

4:35 – 5:40       Chair: Peter McKiernan, University of Strathclyde

                         Co-Chair: William Glick, Rice University

What issues are most important to societal stakeholders that business school research could help to address through collaboration?

 

 

Session 5         Reflection of Key Take-aways and Next Day

5:40 – 6:00       Chair: David Reibstein, The Wharton School

                         Co-Chair: Mary Jo Bitner, Arizona State University

 

Day 2, Tuesday June 29, 2021

 

Session 6         Recap of Day 1 and Agenda for Day 2

3:00 – 3:05       Chair: Peter McKiernan, University of Strathclyde

                        Co-Chair: Jennifer Howard-Grenville, University of Cambridge

 

Session 7         HOW? Solving Wicked Problems via Knowledge Co-Creation  

3:05 – 3:45       Panelists:

  • Lise Kingo, former UN Global Compact, Novo Nordisk
  • Arturo Franco, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

                         Chair: Michael Toffel, Harvard Business School

                         Co-Chair: Andrew Karolyi, Cornell University

  1. What are examples and experiences of successful multi-sector collaboration projects?
  2. What structures can facilitate collaborative research on complex wicked problems?
  3. How to recognize and reward cross-disciplinary or cross-sector collaborative research?

Session 8         One Model of Multi-Stakeholder Co-Creation for Wicked Problems

3:45 – 4:05       Speaker: Maurizio Zollo, Imperial College Business School

                         Chair: Peter McKiernan, University of Strathclyde

                         Co-Chair: Jennifer Howard-Grenville, University of Cambridge

4:05 – 4:10       Break

 

Session 9       Breakout Group Discussion: Generating Systemic Change in Business Research and Management Practice

4:10 – 5:10       Chair: Peter McKiernan, University of Strathclyde

                         Co-Chair: Jennifer Howard-Grenville, University of Cambridge

How do we transform our ideas and commitments into an ongoing collaborative process and support each other after the summit?

 

Session 10       Keynote: Partnerships for Systems Change – How Business Research Can Drive “Stakeholder Capitalism”

5:10 – 5:30       Speaker: Dominic Waughray, World Economic Forum

                        Chair: Andrew Jack, Financial Times

                        Co-Chair: Jennifer Howard-Grenville, University of Cambridge

Session 11       Synthesis, Reflection and Next Step

5:30 – 6:00       Chair: Jennifer Howard-Grenville, University of Cambridge

                         Co-Chair: Peter McKiernan, University of Strathclyde

  • Barbara Kahn, Wharton, USA
  • Andrew Karoyli, Cornell, USA
  • Shara McClure, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, USA
  • Renate Meyer, Organization Studies, Austria
  • Andrea Westall, Economist, Policy and Strategy Consultant, UK