CEBC IN THE NEWS

Press Release

MCCR Announces Leadership Change

For immediate release on Monday, February 8, 1999.

Contacts: 

Robert MacGregor
President, MCCR
(651) 962-4120

James J. Renier, Ph.D.
Chairman, MCCR
Renier & Associates
(612) 473-0974

Minnesota Center for Corporate Responsibility (MCCR) Chairman Dr. James J. Renier announced today that MCCR President Robert W. MacGregor will become the President of the Indevco Corporate Foundation in Beirut, Lebanon, this spring and Lebanon Country Director for the International Executive Service Corps (IESC).

The Board of Directors has appointed an interim management team to provide leadership while the Center launches a search for a new president. The interim management team will be led by Dr. Michael J. Evers, Dean Emeritus of the University of St. Thomas (UST) Graduate School of Business (GSB)and an MCCR Director. The team will include Clinton O. Larson, retired Senior Vice President for Honeywell, an MCCR Director and chair of the Center’s Joint Initiative Planning Committee, and Michael Lynch, a former Vice President of marketing with the Carlson Marketing Group. Dr. Renier was joined in making the announcement by Dr. Theodore L. Fredrickson, Dean of the UST Graduate School of Business, and by Dr. David Kidwell, Dean of the Carlson School of Management (CSOM) at the University of Minnesota (UM).

At its December 15 Annual Meeting, the Center outlined a major strategic initiative which incorporates a significant relationship with the UM Carlson School of Management together with its present vital affiliation with the UST Graduate School of Business. "MCCR’s board of directors is excited about our goal to become a national and global organization of excellence," said Renier, retired Chairman and CEO of Honeywell Inc. "Our Center is leading on vital business issues being raised by the Davos World Economic Forum, the United Nations, and trade, religious and consumer groups all over the world. Our Principles for Business directly address rogue practices that undermine the achievement of healthy free markets everywhere. Collaboration between MCCR, the Carlson School of Management and the UST Graduate School of Business provides a most effective way for Minnesota business to carry out its responsibility to build thriving corporations in flourishing communities."

David Koch, Chair of Graco Inc. and MCCR board member, underscored the need for these changes: "The global ethics and corporate responsibility challenges facing corporations are escalating rapidly. This initiative will provide business with much-needed practical assistance, information and research focused on creating the ethical foundations for market economies. At the same time, MCCR will strengthen its local programming on leadership, ethics and work/life practices."

This enterprise adds substantial research capability, boosts the Center’s ability to provide information and advice to business, and commits the Center to helping business with international business ethics and corporate responsibility issues. MCCR Board member Tony Andersen, Chair of the H. B. Fuller Company, and Koch will continue to lead these important developments.

MacGregor joined MCCR as its president in 1991. Renier lauded MacGregor for providing 7 years of distinguished service to the Center and for his outstanding leadership in corporate responsibility and business ethics. He credited MacGregor with restoring the Center’s business membership base, establishing a vital new direction, and developing an international code of business conduct now known as the Principles for Business. In recognition of these contributions, the Board of Directors has named MacGregor President Emeritus.

MacGregor leaves the Twin Cities and MCCR to pursue his long-term interests and involvement in international development. Projects of the Indevco Corporate Foundation include developing a major civic institute at the Lebanese American University to train business leaders in corporate responsibility and business ethics. The Foundation will assist the government and others in re-establishing Beirut to its former position of leadership in the Middle East. Quality job creation will be one key focus.

The International Executive Service Corps is a volunteer organization which loans senior business executives to projects in developing nations. MacGregor has previously volunteered for IESC projects in Mauritius, South Africa, Egypt, and with the Red Lake Indian Reservation. His work with the Red Lake Nation in northern Minnesota was IESC’s first project with a Native American community.

MacGregor will remain an active member of the Caux Round Table, an international group of business leaders from the Americas, Europe and Asia that has endorsed the Principles for Business. The principles, now translated into 16 languages, are now the world’s most widely distributed standard of business conduct. A sought-after speaker on corporate responsibility and business ethics, he has addressed audiences in over a dozen countries and at United Nations meetings. As part of his overseas service, MacGregor will continue to assist MCCR, especially in developing relationships internationally.

MCCR is a nonprofit business association dedicated to creating ethical business cultures. Supported by its member companies, the Center assists business leaders in developing productive and practical relationships with stakeholders.

Theodore L. Fredrickson, Ph.D.
Dean, Graduate School of Business
University of St. Thomas
(651) 962-4203

Michael J. Evers, Ph.D.
Dean Emeritus, Graduate School of Business
University of St. Thomas
(651)962-4202

David Kidwell, Ph.D.
Dean, Carlson School of Management
University of Minnesota
(612) 625-0027

Center for Ethical Business Cultures

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

Email: mail@cebcglobal.org

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