IMD is a leading global business school based in Lausanne, Switzerland. For over 60 years, IMD has worked with leading global companies to develop and retain management talent. IMD is the “global meeting place”: the most international of business schools worldwide. It offers learning based on innovative and highly relevant research that can be applied to business challenges immediately. This is IMD's "Real World. Real Learning" approach (www.imd.org).

IMD is ranked number one worldwide in executive education (Financial Times, 2008). IMD’s MBA is ranked first worldwide (Economist, 2008).

Kevin Anselmo
IMD Media Relations
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In closing the first Responsible Leadership Summit, IMD President Dr John R. Wells announced that IMD will organize a series of Responsible Leadership Regional Summits in different parts of the world.

“IMD has always strived to develop responsible leaders, but now is the time to re-double our efforts and put responsible leadership to the front and center,” he stated. “The Responsible Leadership Regional Summits will allow us to better understand responsible leadership by listening to stakeholders from different parts of the world. This initiative will enable IMD as a leading global business school to offer practical advice to our participants on the critical issues of responsible leadership.”

IMD plans to hold the Regional Summits in Asia, the Gulf and the Americas. Dates and locations will be announced in the near future.

Dr Wells used the just concluded three-day Summit in Lausanne to outline IMD’s position on responsible leadership.

“At IMD, we believe that responsible leadership is about delivering the right results, and delivering the results in the right way.

“What do we mean by the right results? In the case of businesses, it is delivering superior sustainable performance: long-term profits - not a quick hit - and superior profits striving to deliver greater value out of limited resources. If you use resources more efficiently and effectively you will attract more, providing growth and sustainability; and if you create more value you have more flexibility to satisfy the many constituencies that want to share in that value.

“Getting results the right way means treating people and institutions fairly, taking the long view. Remember that business is a multi-round game. Fairness builds trust and loyalty which is key to good business. It means being honest: don’t steal from your firm’s long term assets to create the impression of short term profits that are not there.

“It means taking a broader view of the impact of a firm’s choices on local communities, society and the environment. And it means looking for investment opportunities to help solve critical issues such as the poor-rich divide, bringing the power of enlightened self-interest to bear on some of the world’s toughest problems.”

Watch Dr Wells’ introductory speech.

The following are a few of examples that demonstrate IMD’s current emphasis on responsible leadership.

· Each year, IMD’s MBA class participates in a Discovery Expedition to a region or country facing a difficult business environment. The MBA class of 2009 will travel to South Africa and meet with business leaders, government representatives, social entrepreneurs and others from various segments of society to better understand the challenges facing the country. In previous years, MBA participants traveled to Kenya, Argentina and Bosnia–Herzegovina for Discovery Expeditions.

· The MBA, Executive MBA and Building on Talent programs as well as the Program for Executive Development and the Accelerated Executive Development Program contain modules that address sustainability, climate change and corporate social responsibility.

· The Forum for Corporate Sustainability Management is IMD’s corporate sustainability research initiative. It has a long history of working with its corporate members to build a sustainable business advantage through social and environmental strategic action.

· The Evian Group at IMD is an international coalition of corporate, government and opinion leaders committed to fostering an open, inclusive, equitable and sustainable market economy in a rules-based multilateral framework.

· A number of IMD Faculty have research agendas that focus on areas related to responsible leadership such as governance, risk management, regulation and sustainability.

· The IMD MBA program offers seven different scholarships. Most recently, the IMD Foundation Board established the CHF 20,000 Jim Ellert Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to an individual from Africa, Central / Eastern Europe or the South-East Asian Peninsula (Thailand, Myramar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia) each year until 2018.

· The Program for Executive Development (PED) scholarship is designed to enable a talented and motivated business person from a developing country to participate in PED and then contribute to sustainability in his or her country upon completion of the program. PED alumni and sponsors raise funds for travel, accommodation and meals, while IMD finances the PED program fee. The scholarship selection committee consists of members from previous and current PED classes as well as IMD Faculty.

The Responsible Leadership Summit included special guest speakers such as Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Peter Bakker, CEO of TNT, Victor Fung, ICC Chairman, and Wendy Luhabe, Chair of the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Ltd & Chancellor of Johannesburg University. You can access all session summaries from the Summit at www.imd.org/summitcoverage.

The last day of the Responsible Leadership Summit was run in partnership with the Evian Group at IMD and the International Chamber of Commerce.