The fourteenth edition of the European Academy of Management (EURAM) Annual Conference, which was entitled Waves and Winds of Strategic Leadership for Sustainable Competitiveness, was recently held in Valencia. The event hosted the New Patterns of Organisation – New ways of doing business workshop organised by the Enel Study Centre Foundation and EURAM's Strategic Interest Groups (SIGs).
Academics and business experts attended the workshop, which saw discussion of the introduction of new business models based on corporate social responsibility (CSR). Renata Mele, Head of the Enel Foundation's Sustainable Development and Innovation Research Area, took part in the discussion at the end of the preliminary session.
'We looked at the Foundation's first two years of activities in terms of CSR, sustainability and innovation,' said Mele. 'What emerged was the need to create shared value in order to give way to business models that offer opportunities for both entrepreneurial and social development. We have also previewed the results of research on the perception of sustainability in the corporate field carried out with The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).'
Two round tables then followed. The first analysed sustainability best practices promoted by multinational corporations, while the second focused on sustainability performance measurement.
'Today it is inevitable that businesses need to develop sustainable profiles,' concluded Renata Mele. 'Not only is Enel part of the Global Compact Lead initiative, it is also one of the businesses that lead the way.'