The Center for Responsible Business & Leadership (CRB) is a strategic initiative in CATÓLICA-LISBON’s ambition to be a catalyst for impact creation, through knowledge development and innovation, in order to place Responsible Business at the core of the corporate strategy.
Responsible Business is becoming an essential part of corporate strategies and the CRB aspires to develop critical knowledge among students and executives in order to face these new trends as opportunities.
We aim to contribute to CATÓLICA-LISBON’s mission to be a top business school and create a position of intellectual leadership while finding the right answers for the world’s toughest challenges.
We believe that corporations able to act as a Responsible Business, integrating all its dimensions into their strategies and culture, will be the leading companies of the future.
Our Purpose
To contribute to a society where we only have Responsible Businesses led by Responsible Leaders.
Our Vision
A society where we only have Responsible Businesses led by Responsible Leaders.
Our Mission
To become a European reference in corporate sustainability knowledge through research, teaching, and consulting, acting as an agent of change amongst students and executives, helping them to understand the impact of Responsible Business and its value creation in corporate strategies.
Business Case for Action: Without economic sustainability, it is hard for companies to focus their activity on social and environmental sustainability. But what is becoming abundantly clear is that without social and environmental sustainability will be hard for companies to survive and find any long-term economic sustainability. This is the essence of the Business case for Action - the understanding that social and environmental sustainability are the drivers of competitive advantage creation that will lead companies in the pursuit of sustainable economic growth.
Purpose: Purpose advocates for an organization to be truly authentic to its (i) reason for existence providing a clear (ii) guide for decision making, and an (iii) unifying factor that creates a (iv) sustainable competitive advantage (v) reinforced by the understanding of the ecosystem where it operates. This approach allows business leaders to move beyond the illusionary comfort of shareholder value maximization and to navigate the political tensions of stakeholder management, being able to identify the path to value creation that will sustain the organization’s future.
Sustainable Development Goals: Make the SDGs central to the core business of companies, unlocking business opportunities by focusing as a strategic area, and measuring them with specific KPIs.
Responsible Leadership: Responsible Leadership is the ability to align stakeholders around a common aspiration that goes beyond their direct interest, by putting people, customers/consumers, and other relevant stakeholders first, all-embracing a shared purpose treating profit as an outcome rather than the goal.
The CRB values the power of partnerships on the promotion and development of a more sustainable and purposeful world. The Center develops strategic partnerships to enhance its activities and has the support of organizations that share the same values and commitment to responsible management.
Our founding sponsors and partners are BP and EFACEC, economic agents of great importance in Portuguese society that have responsively conducted their activities over the years, creating value for the society while taking into consideration sustainability on its strategy and operations.
Through this partnership, BP and EFACEC support the development of projects and research, promoting knowledge and the dissemination of different concepts associated with what it means to be a “responsible business”.
- The fundamental role played by BP in the strategic development of the CRB as part of its Advisory Board;
- Participation of BP CEO in the CRB launching ceremony;
- Participation in the CRB Impact Measurement Process;
- CEO participation in the online Conference: Responsible Business and Leadership - Challenges of a global crisis;
- Exclusive participation of the BP CEO in the executive education course “Purpose Driven Business”;
- Participation of BP employees in the “Responsible Business” course
- CEO participation in the closing panel of the course “Responsible Business”
- BP's participation in the “Responsible Business" chair with the proposal of a work that was awarded at the end.
- The fundamental role played by EFACEC in the strategic development of the CRB as part of its Advisory Board;
- Participation of EFACEC CEO in the CRB launching ceremony;
- Participation in the CRB Impact Measurement Process;
- Talk by Professor Nuno Moreira da Cruz, Executive Director of CRB, about “Purpose”, at the EFACEC Annual Administration meeting;
- Exclusive participation of the EFACEC CEO in the executive education course “Purpose Driven Business”;
- Participation of EFACEC employees in the “Responsible Business” course
- CEO participation in the closing panel of the course “Responsible Business”
- Master's thesis project on the strategic application of the Sustainable Development Goals to EFACEC.
The CRB also receives the fundamental support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation as its scholarship sponsor. To promote a more sustainable society, an economy that contributes to social balance, environmental regeneration, and a purposeful business world, the foundation awards scholarships for executive education courses to professionals with high potential for influence and transformation.
Within CATÓLICA-LISBON, the CRB has partnerships with other institutional centers, such as the Smart City Innovation Lab, and student clubs such as the Equality in Business club and Católica4Future.
Furthermore, we have a partnership with the Planetiers World Gathering, which includes our knowledge contribution to the success of the event, the participation of CATÓLICA-LISBON's Dean as a keynote speaker on the event, and constant cooperation on the event success and reach, with the invitation of world-class speakers, executives, professors, and students. The CRB Executive Director, Nuno Moreira da Cruz, also contributed as a speaker on the event and on the Planetiers TV program in one of the Portuguese news broadcasting channels.
CATÓLICA-LISBON together with Universidade Católica Portuguesa are on the first steps to join as members and develop closer cooperation with Global Compact Network. This is a natural step on CRB’s alignment on the adoption of the Sustainable Development Agenda set by the United Nations in 2015.
The CRB led the process of signing a partnership with Yunus Social Business Centre. CATÓLICA-LISBON intends this partnership with the Yunus Centre to develop knowledge, education, and innovative projects in the area of social business and work for a fairer, more inclusive, and impact-oriented system of capitalism. Achieving this objective involves training programs in Social Business and social innovation for young people in secondary education, university students, entrepreneurs and executives, an accelerator to support the development of new social businesses that help solve the challenges of European society and the development of partnerships for an inter-sectoral impact that contribute to sustainable development.
The CRB and the House of Beautiful Business (HBB) are in close cooperation in order to activate: a) activities with students that would allow them to develop new skills and a new vision on the purpose of business on society; b) contribution of the CRB for the duration of a moment on the Great Wave event for the House 2020; c) HBB contribution on CRB weekly newsletter (Have a great and Impactful week!).
Interested in knowing more about the benefits of our partnerships and how to support our center? Contact us at crb.clsbe@ucp.pt and discover all the benefits of being part of our network!
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