The Responsible Business Revolution

1. CENTRE for
RESPONSIBLE
BUSINESS
THE
RESPONSIBLE
BUSINESS
REVOLUTION

2. 3The Responsible Business Revolution2 The Responsible Business Revolution
THE WORLD AS
WE KNOW IT
We need to tackle the businesses that seem
to lurch from one crisis to another, exploiting
marginalised communities, damaging our
ecosystems, unfairly distributing benefits,
costs, risks and harm and creating unacceptable
social, environmental and economic impact.
The causes of irresponsibility are complex,
deeply embedded within social and economic
structures that have co-evolved with changing
ideologies, forms of governance and social
norms. The challenge of change cannot be
underestimated and we can’t afford to ignore it.
We need solutions. Now.
THE WORLD AS
WE WANT IT
Not all businesses are inherently bad or
intentionally irresponsible and there are
pragmatic responsible business solutions
that would allow businesses to transcend
the limitations imposed by the hidden or
unspoken logic of business irresponsibility.
There is a growing movement for change,
driven by the increasing visibility of the cumulative
impact of the consequences of irresponsible
actions stacked up against the benefits of being
a responsible business. The most successful,
respected and desirable businesses today
can and do use their power to solve social,
environmental and economic problems, not
create them. We need more businesses like that.
INFORMING
RESPONSIBLE
BUSINESS
TRANSFORMATION
An holistic, interdisciplinary body of work,
informed by rigorous high-quality research
and extensive practice engagement, will
inform, shape and energise the Responsible
Business Revolution and also underpin
Lloyds Banking Group’s pioneering initiative
‘Helping Britain Prosper.’
In collaboration with research centres within
the University of Birmingham, other academic
institutions in the UK and across the world,
we intend to become a leading international
centre for responsible business research
and education, translating cutting-edge
academic thinking into action. Building a
vibrant cross-cutting community of scholars,
we will explore how businesses, including
banking, can be ‘responsibly rewired’,
to add greater value to society.
Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business is a unique
opportunity for the University of Birmingham to work with a leading
financial institution – and with other businesses, academic institutions,
NGOs, policy makers and civic society – at the frontier of intellectual
development in responsible business and education.
RESPONSIBLE
BUSINESS AT
THE HEART
OF EVERY
DECISION,
EVERY DAY WHEN
PEOPLE,
IDEAS AND
OPPORTUNITIES
CONNECT,
BRILLIANT
THINGS
HAPPEN
IRRESPONSIBLE
DOESN’T MEAN
IRREVERSIBLE

3. 5The Responsible Business Revolution4 The Responsible Business Revolution
WE WILL ACHIEVE THIS IN
THREE WAYS:
RESEARCH
We’re building on the strengths of Birmingham Business
School researchers and consolidating this world-leading
research to undertake new innovative research projects,
build responsible business research capacity, develop
Responsibility Dialogues, create social innovation labs, and
win additional research funding to underpin responsible
business innovation.
EDUCATION
We’re developing existing teaching initiatives, sector-leading
educational modules, programmes and learning materials to
complement existing educational offers and enhance research
and teaching capacity in business ethics, sustainability and
stakeholder engagement – and through a range of innovative
delivery mechanisms, we will, where we can, provide open
access to these learning materials.
New ‘Responsible Business’ modules are also being
embedded into Birmingham Business School’s undergraduate,
Masters and MBA programmes from 2018 – transforming
management education in responsible business leadership,
entrepreneurship and citizenship to underpin long-term
change in the country’s business community.
ENGAGEMENT/
KNOWLEDGE
PARTNERSHIPS
We’re creating engagement programmes to promote open
dialogue amongst academics, students, business practitioners
and all other responsible business stakeholders, place shapers
and change makers. We aim to become a critical interface
between the business, policy, NGO and academic worlds
where knowledge is shared and potential for business
transformation is realised.
BUILDING
KNOWLEDGE,
BUILDING
RELATIONSHIPS,
BUILDING
BUSINESS
We will explore and critique irresponsible businesses, map the
challenges of responsible business transformation, understand the
obstacles and develop robust, authentic solutions based on high-quality
evidence and theoretical evaluation. We will engage and communicate
effectively with key stakeholders and lead the development of the next
generation of responsible business leaders with the knowledge and
skills to inspire and drive future responsible business transformation.
INSPIRING AND
DRIVING FUTURE
RESPONSIBLE
BUSINESS
TRANSFORMATION

4. 7The Responsible Business Revolution6 The Responsible Business Revolution
HAVING
CONVERSATIONS
THAT MATTER
WE’LL BE:
We will foster collaborative, far-reaching partnerships between academics
and businesses to drive innovation and create impactful research.
Successful businesses are crucial for sustainable development and we
believe that by partnering with us we can help to grow and continue the
success of more responsible businesses.
LEARN MORE
If you’d like to know more about our work
and about how you can get involved,
please get in touch.
Professor Ian Thomson,
Director, Lloyds Banking Group
Centre for Responsible Business
Email: i.thomson@bham.ac.uk
www.birmingham.ac.uk/responsible-business
n Establishing a network of knowledge partners
with expertise in the key challenges associated
with responsible business transformation
n Ensuring the inclusion of local businesses, NGOs,
policy makers in challenge mapping and social
innovation labs programmes
n Developing a series of connected events,
workshops, seminars and Responsibility Dialogues
involving all stakeholders with the purpose of
establishing pathways to impact
n Organising informal Solutions Exchange events
(we’re calling them Curry, Chat and Corporate
Change evenings…) to explore the day-to-day
issues that matter to everyone
n Building high-level academic collaborations and
engaging with organisations such as the CBI,
UN, BITC, CIPD, CIMA
n Evolving collaborative projects with individual
businesses, funded from external sources such
as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
n Publishing and curating practice-oriented,
open access responsible business
transformation resources – ‘How To’ Guides
– to address organisational challenges
GAME CHANGING
THINKING
The Centre’s cutting-edge, interdisciplinary
research, with reach, relevance and resonance,
will test beliefs and illuminate truths, identifying
the economic, environmental and social challenges
that impact us all, locally, nationally and globally
and clarifying the choices that will shape our future.
IN RESPONSIBLE
BUSINESS,
WE’RE ALL IN
IT TOGETHER

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ReBA
FIT FOR FUNDING
We intend to engage and inspire across the academic spectrum
and to explore ways in which we can raise the profile and impact
of responsible business research.
So we’ve established ReBA – the Responsible Business Awards –
a £25,000 funding programme through which we will provide
financial support for innovative, purposeful, thought-provoking,
impact-focused research proposals that fit with the Centre’s
objectives. The awards are open to anyone who wants to further
their research, to lead and inform academic debate and innovation
and to transform responsible business policy and practice.
To find out more and how to apply, please visit
www.birmingham.ac.uk/responsible-business and click on ReBA.