VCU news

By Leila Ugincius

To watch the forum live online at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 22, go to http://business.vcu.edu/ciba/20thforum.html

What are the social responsibilities of global corporations? Leaders from four international companies will address this question at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business’ 20th annual International Business Forum.

“Corporate Social Responsibility” will explore the role that social responsibility plays in the business model.

The forum, sponsored by Universal Corp. and hosted by the VCU School of Business, the Robertson School for Media & Culture and the Division of Community Engagement, takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 22, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the University Student Commons Ballroom, 907 Floyd Ave.  A reception will follow at 5:30 p.m. in the atrium of Snead Hall, 301 W. Main St. Attendance is free and open to the public.

Van Wood, Ph.D., professor of marketing and Philip Morris Chair of International Business in the VCU School of Business, will moderate the panel, which will feature experts from Altria, Capital One, Ford Motor Co. and Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co.

“Corporate social responsibility represents a way of thinking that is important to all who care about leaving this world in better shape than they found it in, and also being successful in their careers and life's work,” Wood said. “Doing well, in the 21st century, requires that organizations also do good, or consumers and other stakeholders will abandon them. Having corporate social responsibility as one of any organization's embedded cultural traits is not just the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do.

Corporate social responsibility represents a way of thinking that is important to all who care about leaving this world in better shape than they found it in, and also being successful in their careers and life's work.

“Each of the four companies represented at this year's forum could be viewed as not the perfect example of a company whose core purpose is to do well and do good. But each of these four is in reality a shining example of just that, as the forum and the telling of their respective stories will uncover.”

Panelist Clifford Yee is senior director of community affairs and market president network at McLean-based Capital One Financial Corp., a Fortune 500 diversified bank. Yee leads local community relations teams charged with developing and implementing Capital One’s Investing for Good strategy through philanthropic grant-making, associate volunteerism and community programming.

Altria Client Services’ Jennifer Hunter is senior vice president of corporate affairs. Altria Client Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Richmond-based Altria Group. Hunter’s team provides Altria Group and its operating companies with services such as corporate affairs research, responsibility, communications, contributions and community relations. She also oversees Altria’s efforts to help prevent underage tobacco use and help adult tobacco users who decide to quit be more successful.

In 2006, Sue O. Stephenson, vice president for Community Footprints at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, assumed leadership of the Ritz-Carlton social responsibility program, Community Footprints. She is charged with expanding the company’s global efforts through a series of multifaceted initiatives focused on child well-being, hunger and poverty relief, and environmental responsibility.

John J. Viera, global director for sustainability & vehicle environmental matters at Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford Motor Co., develops global sustainable business plans and policies, interfacing with global regulatory bodies, reporting externally on the company's environmental and social performance, and leading the company's engagement and partnerships with nongovernmental organizations and other external stakeholders.

The VCU School of Business established the International Business Forum in 1994 to raise awareness among students, faculty and the business community of the global nature of commerce and how this links to events both at home and abroad.