Future business trends and leadership strategy discussed at conference
Some of the most prominent, cutting-edge thinkers on strategy have attended a conference at
The ground-breaking Strategy, Partnerships and Organisations (SPO) programme attracted delegates from the business community in the
It helped to stimulate debate and discussion on new directions in strategy research.The aim is to make it the first in a series of regular workshops at
A number of high-profile guest speakers addressed the workshop on a variety of subjects and issues. Andre Spicer told delegates that the business world in general and large corporations in particular need to stop running scared of protest groups and activists.
"Recently, there have been a number of high-profile cases where activists have threatened well-established business," said the Associate Professor at
"Many corporate social responsibility programmes are the result of sustained pressure from activist groups. This seems to suggest the real movers behind CSR are activists and social movements, not corporations.
"So if companies want to minimise risk of a tarnished image and remain at the forefront of innovation, maybe they need to stop listening to management consultants and start listening to activists."
Stewart Clegg, Professor of Organisational and Work Culture at
"We brought together some of the leading, cutting edge thinkers on strategy to structure a workshop around their current ideas," he explained. "The importance of strategy to contemporary organisations cannot be overstated and this is a great example of
"We provided a platform for lively discussion on how strategy is formulated and wealso opened up debate on the links between accounting and strategy."
The workshop also produced papers for publication in a special issue of the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal.
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