The annual conference of the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN) will be hosted this year by the faculty of Business and Technology. This Thursday, Friday and Saturday, scientists from all over the world convene to discuss ethics and entrepreneurship.
It's the seventeenth conference organized by EBEN. `Every year in a different country,' reports André Nijhof, staff member at Business and Technology. Together with Olaf Fisscher, Professor of Organizations and Business Ethics, and the Ben Gurion University in Israel, Nijhof is preparing the conference on socially sound entrepreneurship. `Entrepreneurs encounter certain ethical borders in their work. This can range from discrimination with the selection of new employees to child labor and bad working conditions. Sometimes you have to pass on a good market opportunity because the ethical limits have been reached. How do you deal with that as entrepreneur?'
Ethics can also be a marketing tool. `Businesses can distinguish themselves by exhibiting a social conscience. Take the Max Havelaar coffee, for example. As long as it's not just window dressing, there's nothing wrong with companies demonstrating their responsibility.'
According to Nijhof, the media and pressure groups play an important role in this. `Consider the commotion concerning Brent Spar when the public turned against Shell. There is a certain wave motion in public debate. A couple of years ago, child labor was a much-discussed topic. Nowadays, things like the construction fraud and top salaries are hot items.'
Completely different topics dominate the public debate in other countries. The participants - managers, consultants and researchers - come from all over the world. For example, there will be representatives of Israel, Australia and Cameroon. Nijhof: `The challenges entrepreneurs face differ according to the country. For example, in Eastern Europe business often still have to deal with corruption and privatization issues.'
EBEN Conference, June 24, 25, 26. Registration is still open. For more information see www.eben.org.
