Engagement from ETHOS

Engagement one of the key issues that distinguishes ETHOS from traditional arenas of responsibility and sustainability in business schools.

At ETHOS, we do not settle with conducting research and providing education on issues of responsibility and sustainability, but we will complement and extend these two key areas through actively engaging with a variety of entities that may already employ personnel who have received training at Bayes, or utilize our research insights.

This way, organizations receive exposure to cutting edge knowledge on responsibility and sustainability through not only recruitment of fresh talent and accessing research content, but also through directly engaging with our expert faculty. Through engagement we seek to accelerate and augment our impact on the wider society.

As ETHOS is a Centre for Responsible Enterprise, we do not limit our attention to business organizations, but rather engage with a variety of different enterprises, public, private, or something in between. Thus ETHOS frequently engages with a range of policy makers, businesses, NGOs, and activists. We are a forum where very different voices can come together to debate issues of responsibility, sustainability and good governance. We also provide advice to a range of organizations on these issues.

Trust in the city

The City Values Forum (CVF) is a collaborative project set up following the success of the Lord Mayor's Initiative on Restoring Trust in the City.

The forum meets under the authority of the Lord Mayor and is run by a board of volunteers from City institutions including Bayes Business School, with Professor Paul Palmer as the nominated representative. The CVF hosts events throughout the year with the aim of highlighting ethical ways of working and promoting better business practice within the City.

Leadership with integrity

This is a short course for managers in the City of London that has been developed by three members of ETHOS for the Bayes Business School in partnership with the Institute of Leadership and Management.

The course will be offered to City professionals with the intention to provide an understanding of what it takes to lead a team and a business with a focus on honesty, integrity, social responsibility and ethical dilemmas.

The City UK Corporate Social Responsibility

The City UK is running a broad programme on CSR for businesses within the City. Bayes Business School is working closely with The City UK to advise and deliver on this. Professor Paul Palmer sits on the main CSR board and the financial sub-committee whilst Professor Andre Spicer sits on the Social Mobility sub-committee and Professor Jean-Pascal Gond on the Sustainability sub-committee.

As part of the City UK's social responsibility initiative, Bayes has been asked to undertake an audit of all the activities businesses in the City are engaged in to help social responsibility. The results will help the UK financial sector identify what it is currently doing and where it might do more.

Report on the Culture of British Retail Banking

Professor Andre Spicer and members of ETHOS produced a report for parliamentary think-tank New City Agenda on the culture of British retail banking. Based on interview data collected from major financial institutions and key stakeholders this collaboration explored the diverse set of problems facing the UK banking sector. Launched at the Houses of Parliament the report received a great deal of media coverage. You can read the headline findings and authors comments from the report on British retail banking.

The full report is available here.

We produced a follow-up report on culture in financial regulators. This report was launched in the UK Parliament and became an important news story. It was widely circulated and resulted in a number of invitations to speak.

The Modern Corporation Project

The Modern Corporation Project seeks to develop a wide debate on the the nature and consequences of contemporary corporate governance theory and practice in relation to the public purpose of the corporate form. This involves a number of interconnected elements, including the development of corporate governance theory that takes into account outcomes and effects of corporate governance theory and practice through engagement with leading academics across the fields of company law, accounting, economics, management, and IPE and an engagement with a broad set of stakeholders in the filed of corporate governance in order to identify embedded best practices with regard to corporate governance across multiple jurisdictions.
It has delivered statements on company law, economics, accounting, politics, and management by leading academics, and the Corporate governance for a Changing World report.

From 2014, the Modern Corporation Project has organized an ongoing series of workshops at Bayes with academics and practitioners in collaboration with Frank Bold, the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants, Ecole des Mines, and Hertfordshire Law School.

Diversity and City of London

We produced a report for the City of London Corporation on the diversity and inclusion in the city of London. This report was funded by the Lord Mayors appeal. It was launched at a major international investment firm and influenced thinking about diversity and inclusion policies throughout the City of London.

Leadership and resilience

We produced a report for the Civil Aviation Authority about leading during a time of significant disruption. We analysed how the CCA was able to mobilise the largest peace time repatriation of British Citizens following the failure of Monarch airlines. This report identifies factors which other institutions can learn about leading during times of crisis.