CEBC IN THE NEWS

Press Release

 MCCR Launches Presidential Search

For Immediate Release
January 19, 2000

Contact: 

David Rodbourne
Vice President
(651) 962-4120

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Minnesota Center for Corporate Responsibility (MCCR) today launched a national search for a new president and announced four additional steps as part of its overall strategic restructuring.

The center’s next president will take over an organization that is aggressively reinventing itself for the future. Founded in 1978 by Minnesota CEOs, the center has adopted a new mission – assisting business leaders in creating ethical and profitable business cultures at the enterprise, community and global levels. Positioning business and the next generation of business leaders to cope with global ethical and cultural issues is a top priority. At the same time, the center will continue to work at the local level encouraging Minnesota firms to play active roles in their communities.

According to MCCR Chairman James Renier, "the center seeks a president who shares its passion for ethics and corporate citizenship." The next president will bring substantial, senior-level business experience, familiarity with both global challenges and community business involvement, the ability to build bridges between business, researchers and educators, and a commitment to providing practical services to the center’s business membership. "We’re looking for someone who can tap into the tremendous capacity of business to focus on the core issues and get things done," said Renier.

The center’s next president will work with business members who face numerous challenges at home and abroad. Business is under increasing scrutiny from governments, nongovernmental organizations, and social investors around the world. At the same time, global leaders like UN Secretary General Kofi Annan are calling on business to play a constructive role in solving the environmental, social and economic challenges confronting developing nations. The recent World Trade Organization summit in Seattle provided some indication of the controversies. However, Center Vice President David Rodbourne argues that "the media focus on street violence misses the behind-the-scenes story of growing dialogue between business, NGOs, and governments over constructive ways to tackle these issues."

Four other announcements emerged from the center’s recent board of directors meeting. The center will change its name to the Center for Ethical Business Cultures (CEBC). "This is one important way to signal our new vision and direction," said Michael Evers, Ph.D., the center’s acting president and dean emeritus of the Graduate School of Business at the University of St. Thomas. "The name reflects our mission and underscores the importance of integrating commitments around ethics and corporate citizenship into the cultures of our companies and communities."

The center announced also the appointment of Lisa Dercks, former Honeywell vice president, associate general counsel, and ethics officer, to the position of executive business fellow. Dercks, who is widely respected for her leadership as Honeywell’s ethics officer, will guide the center in developing a comprehensive array of services for business in the area of ethics and compliance. According to Dercks, the center "will provide its business members with practical information and tools to improve their programs and evaluate their ethics risks in a global environment. The center also gives its members a voice in the global dialogue on business ethics."

In a third move to firm up its new direction, the center appointed two academic directors linked to the center’s unique partnership with two highly respected graduate business programs: Kenneth Goodpaster, Ph.D., holder of the Koch Endowed Chair in Business Ethics at St. Thomas' Graduate School of Business, and Norman Bowie, Ph.D., holder of the Andersen Chair in Corporate Responsibility at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. Goodpaster and Bowie will help the center tackle practical problems in business ethics and corporate citizenship by tapping into the research and problem-solving expertise of the two faculties.

Finally, as part of a long-term process to engage a "new generation of leadership," the center has launched a special board recruitment process seeking candidates to serve on its board of directors.

The center’s presidential and board searches are led by a joint committee drawn from the St. Thomas board of trustees, the Carlson School of Management board of overseers, and MCCR’s board of directors. The committee is co-chaired by Renier and Cargill Chairman Ernest Micek. The center hopes to conclude its search with the appointment of a new president in May.

Center for Ethical Business Cultures

1000 LaSalle Avenue, TMH 331 ▪ Minneapolis, MN 55403-2005 ▪ USA

Phone: 651 962 4120 or 800 328 6819 Ext. 2-4120 ▪ Facsimile: 651 962 4042

Email: mail@cebcglobal.org

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