The Zermatt Summit

Do you wish that there could be substantial discussion which could lead to a more humane and environmentally responsible form of globalization?

That is actually the purpose of the first-ever Zermatt Summit, which will address the major economic and ethical issues raised by globalization (the disconnect between the world of high finance and the real economy; the economy itself is not serving the common good as it fails to properly serve the dignity of individual citizens; and, at an individual level, difficult ethical dilemmas emerge which are almost impossible to resolve).

Expected are representatives of academia, business, government, non-governmental agencies (NGOs), trade unionists, performing artists....

Discussion will focus on how the processes of globalization can be changed to serve the common good - exploring and formulating a roadmap of how to navigate the challenges currently facing mankind and help create a better world.

The idea is that people need to be placed at the centre of the globalization process, so that the world of high finance can serve the economy, while the economy serves the common good, and the common good cares for the people, enhancing the prospects of poorer and socially marginalised groups.

For the individual to be able to reach his or her full potential, he or she must be able to blossom within a society which supports the family, community and enterprise in an inclusive political structure. The broader challenge is for a wider realisation of the responsibility of the individual within society and vice-versa.

The manifest failure of economists and politicians to anticipate the recent financial crisis can not be understood without considering the underlying failure to take into account the impact on the individual of the driving process of global capital. Obstacles to creating a better world will remain until you and I play a more significant role in the process of globalization.
The notion of Common good

The rapid process of globalization makes it an even greater challenge to balance the needs of human beings whether they are material, spiritual or emotional with those of society at large. Under these circumstances, using terms such as the ‘common good’ could be very helpful in defining new rules. Implicit in the common good is a full respect for both the individual and collective interests of society while at the same time asking the individual to demand less for herself or himself, and to concentrate more on serving the community.

So the Zermatt Summit will focus on the respective roles and responsibilities of institutions and individuals from the perspective of furthering the common good.

More than that, the three days will be devoted to forming concrete and practical recommendations.

After the Summit has been completed, the Advisory Board, made up of senior business leaders and experts, will formulate recommendations from the Summit, which will be widely published. A progress update on how these recommendations are being adopted worldwide will be presented at the following Summit.

The programme is:


Thursday June 3, 2010

14.00 - 17.00 Welcome and registration

16.30 - 17.00
Welcome address by Christopher Wasserman - President of the Zermatt Summit Foundation

17.00 - 17.30 Piano concert

18.30 - 19.30 Welcome Reception

________________________________________

Day 2
Friday June 4, 2010

09.00 - 09.45 Welcome Address
The world crisis and the change of paradigm by Prof. Philippe de Woot Restoring the Ethical and Political Dimension of the Corporation:
Rebalancing Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Corporate Statesmanship

09.45 - 11.00 Keynote Address 1.1 (Plenary session)
• Revisiting the corporate raison d’être

Keynote Address 1.2 (Plenary session)
• Entrepreneurship and the economic progress

11.00 - 11.30 Coffee break

11.30 - 13.00 Roundtable 1 (Plenary session)
• Finance to serve entrepreneurship and economic progress

13.00 - 14.30 Lunch

14.30 - 15.15 Keynote Address 2 (Plenary session)
• Back to ethics, towards a responsible leadership

15.15 - 15.30 Coffee break

15.30 - 16.30 Workshop 2*
• The responsible supply chain
• The responsible consumption
• Developing responsible leaders

16.30 - 16.45 Coffee break

16.45 - 17.15 Reporting back from workshop (Plenary session)

17.15 - 18.45 Roundtable 2 (Plenary session)
• Ethics and corporate responsibility: Economy to serve
the Common Good

18.45 - 19.00 Break

19.00 - 20.00 World premiere viewing of the film
«Doing Virtuous Business»

20.00 Departure for the «Swiss Night»
(return by 24.00)

________________________________________

Day 3
Saturday June 5, 2010

09.00 - 09.45 Keynote Address 3 (Plenary session)
• Corporate Statesmanship and Common Good

09.45 - 10.00 Coffee-break

10.00 - 11.00 Workshop 3*
• Business and the political debate
• Multi stakeholders initiatives
• Partnering with NGOs and civil society

11.00 - 11.15 Coffee-break
11.15 - 11.30 Reporting back from workshop (Plenary session)

11.30 - 13.00 Roundtable 3 (Plenary session)
• Corporate Statesmanship and Common good: Common Good to serve the person

13.00 - 14.30 Lunch

14.30 - 15.15 Keynote Address 4 (Plenary session)
• Changing hearts and minds: the role of spirituality

15.15 - 15.45 Coffee break

15.45 - 17.15 Roundtable 4 (Plenary session)
Changing hearts and minds

17.15 - 17.45 Concluding Summary:
Towards a new corporate culture
by Prof. Henri-Claude de Bettignies - CEIBS

18.00 End of the Summit
Farewell cocktails



The Zermatt Summit Foundation has been declared a foundation of public interest at both a federal level in Switzerland and at the cantonal level in Valais.

The Board Members are:

• Christopher Wasserman, President
President, Terolab Surface Group
President, Ecophilos Foundation

• Nicolas Michel, Vice President
Professor of International Law at the
Geneva Graduate Institute of International
and Development Studies. Former Deputy
General Secretary for legal affairs of the UN

• H.I. and R.H. Archduke Rudolf of Austria,
of Hapsburg-Lorraine
Founder and Managing Director of Triple A
Gestion S.A.

• Father Nicolas Buttet
Founder and Moderator of the Eucharistein
Fraternity, Founder of Philanthropos
European Institute

• Jean-René Fournier
Member of the Federal States Council (Swiss
Parliament). Former President of the Valais
government

• Theodore Roosevelt Malloch
Chairman and CEO of The Roosevelt Group

• Antonin Pujos
Non-executive director, Adviser
Chairman of the Research Club of the French
Institute of Directors (IFA)

The Foundation's Advisory Board consists of:

• Henri-Claude de Bettignies (Chairman)
Distinguished Professor of Globally Responsible Leadership at the China Europe International Business School Shanghai (CEIBS) AVIVA Chair Emeritus Professor of Leadership and Responsibilty Emeritus Professor of Asian Business and Comparative Management at INSEAD Director of CEDRE (Centre for the Study of Development and Responsibility)

• Elizabeth Sombard
Founder and President Résonnance Foundation

• Philippe de Woot
Professor Emeritus of the Catholic University Louvain
Holder of a PhD in Law and Economic Sciences
Harvard Faculty Associate

• Guido Palazzo
Professor of Business Ethics at HEC University of Lausanne

• Jean Staune
Founder and General Secretary of the Interdisciplinary University of Paris. Professor in Philosophy of Sciences at the MBA of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) Director of the collection “The Time of Science” at Fayard Editions


Partner institutions of the Summit include, in no particular order:

Ecophilos (www.ecophilos.org)

Entreprise et Progres (www.entreprise-progres.net)

The China Europe International Business School (www.ceibs.edu)

The Yale Center for Faith and Culture (www.yale.edu/faith)

Oxford's Institute for Religion and Society in Asia (http://irsa.co.uk/index.php)

The Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (www.grli.org)

Transforming Business, the University of Cambridge, UK (www.transformingbusiness.net)

BTW Transforming Business (TB) is co-ordinated by Dr Peter Heslam, Dr Flint McGlaughlin, Dr Rick Goossen, and John Kay and has the benefit of a number of distinguished patrons and advisers, some of whom are listed below.

TB addresses, not surprisingly, research questions that are close to the heart of the Zermatt Summit, such as:

How can the creative forces of free enterprise be effectively applied to the most pressing social, economic, and moral challenge of our time: the elimination of poverty?

How can we best instill and nurture vision, motivation, and values-led entrepreneurial aspirations, especially in young people?

What impact do relational, moral, and spiritual intelligence have on business solutions to poverty?

What is the connection between business success and institutional, spiritual, relational and moral values?

How can competition best foster creativity and innovation?


TB's Patrons and Advisers include:

Prof Helen Alford (Pontifical University, Rome)
Ben Andradi (Servista)
Prof Alan Barrell (Cambridge entrepreneur and academic)
Matthew Bishop (The Economist)
Prof Philip Booth (Institute of Economic Affairs)
Paul Chandler (Traidcraft)
Dr Stephen Copp (Bournemouth University)
Dr Catherine Cowley (Heythrop College, London University)
Prof John Dunning (Reading University)
Anthony Farr (Allan Gray Orbis Foundation)
Larry Farrell (Farrell International)
Prof Ram Gidoomal CBE (Syntel)
Dr Alan Gillespie (Ulster Bank)
Lord Brian Griffiths (Goldman Sachs)
Stephen Green (HSBC)
Dr David Hillson (Risk Doctor)
Dr Kurt Hoffman (Shell Foundation)
Prof Sir John Houghton (Victoria Institute)
Lord Geoffrey Howe (former Chancellor of the Exchequer)
Prof David Jackman (London Financial Academy)
Prof Peter Johnson (Durham University)
Prof Graeme Leach (Institute of Directors)
Prof Jack Mahoney (London University)
Clive Mather (Tearfund)
Dr David Miller (Yale)
Charles Miller Smith (Scottish Power)
Mark McAllister (Fairfield Energy)
Sir Mark Moody-Stuart (Anglo American)
Prof Geoff Moore (Durham Business School)
Sir Jeremy Morse (Lloyds)
Prof Michael Naughton (St Thomas University)
Prof Simon Peyton-Jones (Microsoft)
Dr Jennifer Roback Morse (Acton Institute)
Prof Theodore Roosevelt Malloch (Yale)
Dr Vinay Samuel (Institute for Development Research)
Lynne Sedgemore, CBE (Centre for Excellence in Leadership)
Prof Max Stackhouse (Princeton)
Sir Christopher Wates (Wates Group)
Sir John Whitmore (Performance Consulting)
Prof Paul Williams (DTZ and Regent College)
Prof John Wood, CBE (Imperial College, London University)
Prof Michael Woolcock (Harvard/World Bank)


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