CAUX INITIATIVES FOR BUSINESS

Trust - Integrity - Leadership

Dr A S Ravindra Rao, Resident Trustee, Friends of Moral Re-Armament (India) welcoming the delegates at the Inaugural session of the conference. Looking on (l to r) are: Kiyoshi Nagano, Director, International IC Association, Japan; Rajendra Chavan, Chief Officer, Panchgani Hill Station Municipal Council; Sarosh Ghandy, Regional Director, CIB; Dr J J Irani, Director, Tata Sons Ltd.; Farhad Forbes, Director, Forbes Marshall Group.The Caux Initiatives for Business (CIB) conference jointly co-hosted by Indian and Japanese Initiatives of Change associates, was launched in Panchgani, Maharashtra, India, between 20-24 November 2009. Its aim was to attempt to find answers to the problems that face the global economy. The theme of the Conference “From Financial Crisis To a New Economic Order – The Need to Reintroduce Trust and Integrity as Common Business Practices" brought together 140 delegates from 13 countries.

The delegates were welcomed by Dr. Ravindra Rao, resident Director at Asia Plateau and was followed by Mr Rajendra Chavan, the CEO of the Municipal Corporation of Panchgani who welcomed all delegates to the beautiful hill station of Panchgani. He said that there was only one thing above all that mattered in today's world and that was "trustworthiness, which is not a skill, but is the quality of our character."

PDF news reports are available:

Download 20 November report here

Download 21 November report here

Download 22 November report here

Download 23 November report here

Japanese delegation performing at a cultural evening at Asia PlateauThe Traditional Inaugural lamp was lit by representatives of the 13 countries participating in the conference. The Asia Plateau Chorus sang the song ‘It’s better to Light one Candle than to Curse the Darkness’.

Sarosh Ghandy, Regional Director, CIB, outlined the aims and objectives of the conference. Farhad Forbes, Director, Forbes Marshall Group, in his address talked about the importance of Integrity and the need for building institutions on the principles of trust and Integrity. He gave details of the loss in trillions of dollars due to the meltdown and large number of jobs lost. While the impact was not severe in India, he said we need to be on our alert. He also mentioned that the growth and development model should be inclusive and take care of the large segment of the population.

Dr J J Irani, Director, Tata Sons Ltd, releasing the special issue of Disha to commemorate the Caux Initiatives for Business Conference 2009Delivering the keynote address, Dr. J.J Irani, Director of Tata Sons Ltd (the Tata Group of companies) talked about reintroducing integrity and trust as a common business practice. He gave details of his experience in the House of Tatas. Talking about the great visionary, Jamsetji Tata, he highlighted the difference between making money for oneself and creating wealth for others. He mentioned the importance of creating wealth before it could be distributed. It was very necessary to distribute wealth and quoting from the life of Mr JRD Tata who did not spend money of the company in buying expensive curtains for his office. Helping the community where one was working was important.He stressed the need to follow the principle of ruling but with the consent of the ruled. There was a special responsibility towards the people who live around and the needs of the community must be met.

Dr Armin Bruck, Managing Director, Siemens Ltd (India & South Asia) speaking at the conferenceThe representation of delegates at the conference included leaders from business and industry, political leaders, academics, members of the government civil service, representatives of the workplace and training and development representatives. A more comprehensive report will be published in early 2010. Please find brief reports of the daily proceedings here.

The conference released the Panchgani Statement calling for governments and business to work towards the Millenium Development Goals and calling for business to develop a code of conduct that embeds trust and integrity that is maintained by a regular social audit. The full statement can be read here.

The conference "Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy" with 160 participants from 38 countries in the conference centre of Initiatives of Change in Caux has now ended.

Rajeev Dubey: (Photo: Hélène Bielak)Rajeev Dubey, President and member of the Group Management Board of the Indian industrial giant Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. gave a ‘Caux Lecture’ on ‘Transforming Capitalism with Trust and Integrity’ in the Initiatives of Change centre in Switzerland, at the close of a conference that brought together over 160 entrepreneurs, farmers, health and media professionals, academics and students from 38 countries. Dubey spoke about the Mahindra group – which has 108,000 employees in 47 countries – and its policy of ‘employee social options’ through which employees are encouraged to put time and effort into educational, environmental and public health programmes in the communities where they work. So far, 25,000 workers have given their time. ‘We dare to dream that we can make a positive difference to the communities and nations we live and operate in,’ Dubey said. The firm, he said, was determined to work in a spirit of ‘satya’ ‘prem’ and ‘seva’ – Truth, Compassion and Service. (Click here to read more about Dubey's lecture.)

The ‘trust and integrity in the global economy’ conference had four ‘work streams’, on business and the lessons to be learned from the current crisis; a workshop led by a team of young professionals; the role of the media in helping to ‘rebuild a global economy that is trustworthy, honest and inspiring’ with media professionals including those involved in the International Communications Forum; and ‘Food, health and sustainability’, led by the Food and Sustainability Network.

Jean-Pierre Méan, Vice-President of Transparency International, Switzerland, and Chief Compliance Officer, Group Legal Counsel of SGS SA, Geneva, between 1996 and 2008, led one daily workshop ‘stream’ on the theme of ‘Reshaping business around core values’, with senior business leaders who are ‘passionate to reshape business’. Following the global economic crisis, ‘business can no longer patch up the old systems we have been working with,’ the conference programme stated. ‘We need to take bold steps towards transformation. This is a rare opportunity to bring fundamental change.’

Panel on the "Fair Trade Day"

A number of Swiss activists took part in a day on fair trade. Lavinia Sommaruga Bodeo, Switzerland, who works for Alliance Sud, (a Swiss Alliance of Development Organisations) and is responsible in the Italian part of Switzerland for development policy called for ‘a dynamic of solidarity and not of exclusion’. ‘Fair trade consists of a new ethic based on principles of trust, solidarity and sharing,’ she said, stressing the need for ‘a globalisation of responsibilities between North and South of the planet, a democratic bottom up globalisation’ rooted in local histories and conditions.

Also taking part was Olivier Martin, an agronomist, working for the Protestant churches ‘Département Missionaire échange et mission’ in Lausanne, who is the Executive Secretary for relations with Central Africa; Martina Schmidt, who is secretary of the French office of the Swiss Protestant churches’ development agency; Catherine Morand, member of the board and head of Swissaid for the French-speaking part of Switzerland; Gladys Corredor, coordinator and facilitator for Magasins du Monde in the Geneva/Vaud/Fribourg region, a network of fair trade shops; Gertraud Wachmann, of the Swiss Economy of Communion Commission, a project inspired by Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, and Nicolas Reynaud who is engaged in promoting ‘Progressive Brotherhood’.

The conference opened on 24th July with an introduction to the four work-streams: (Young Professionals, Media, Business Leaders and Health, Food and Sustainability) by the moderators of the work-streams, including Jean-Pierre Mean, Vice President of the Swiss Chapter of Transparency International, Ingrid Franzon, Swedish Clincal Nutrionist, Bernard Margueritte, Polish Journalist, Author, Writer and President of the International Communications Forum, Justin Walford, Operations Manager G3 Canada, and Mohan Bhagwandas. 

The keynote speech was made by George Katito, Zimbabwean Researcher for Governance and African Peer Review Mechanism Program at the South African Institute of International Affairs. He articulated the effects of the global economic crunch to both developed and developing countries. He proceeded to stress the effects of climate change by referring to the International Organization for Migration’s report which discloses that 200 million people would be forced to migrate as a direct result of climate change. ‘What ails our global economy may seem slightly daunting, overwhelming and perhaps even out of our depth’, he continued. ‘However, if there is one clear lesson to be gleaned from the progress of human civilization through the centuries - it is that we are sufficiently equipped to inspire and effect change’. (Read more about the opening of the conference here.)

Caux Initiatives for Business is working in association with JADE, a student-run, pan-European network representing about 20.000 young entrepreneurs in more than 225 local non-profit organisations, called Junior Enterprises. By running professional consulting projects and managing small- to medium sized enterprises, the students add practical experience to their theoretical skills, develop entrepreneurship at an early stage, broaden their horizons and, of course, prepare themselves for challenging careers throughout Europe. JADE has promoted the CIB Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy conference to all its members through its newsletters and website. For more on JADE click here

Caux Initiatives for Business is working in association with the CSR360 Global Partner Network. This is a network of independent organisations that work in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at the interface of Business and Society in order to mobilise business for good. Business in the Community (BITC) convenes this network that currently comprises 100 partner organisations from 60 different countries around the world. www.csr360gpn.org