Stanford Business School Conference Aims to Advance Socially and Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains

STANFORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

More than 150 supply chain management experts, practitioners, and policy makers will gather at a conference April 29 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business to exchange best practices for sustainable supply chains. Early bird registration discount is available for one more week for executives, nonprofit leaders, policy makers, and academics.

The conference, “Collaboration for the Greater Good: Social and Environmental Responsibility in the Global Supply Chain,” is presented by the Global Supply Chain Management Forum and the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, in partnership with AMR Research.

“We’ve reached an important threshold in global supply chain management,” said Hau Lee, director of the Global Supply Chain Management Forum and the Thoma Professor of Operations, Information, and Technology. “In recent years companies at the forefront of social and environmental responsibility have made tremendous strides in strengthening their own infrastructure and internal processes, and now the time has come to work together to achieve greater results, not only for the greater good: smart organizations are themselves finding significant payoffs in collaboration.”

Featuring all new speakers and topics, the agenda for this one-day conference will explore innovative collaborations between businesses, nonprofits, and governments, and examine ways to leverage them to solve social and environmental problems while maintaining or even enhancing profits.

Paul S. Auerbach, who is Professor of Surgery in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University and an alumnus of the business school’s Sloan Master’s Program, will lead the session, “From the Front Lines of Haiti: Collaboration and Humanitarian Logistics.” Other sessions include “Behind the Golden Arches: Establishing a Robust Supply Chain in India Through Collaboration”; and “Traceability, Cotton, and Collaboration in the Apparel Industry: The Drive for More Sustainable Agriculture.”

Speakers are expected from Johnson Controls Inc., McDonald’s India, Levi Strauss & Co., Nike Inc., and Natura Cosmetics Brazil.

“Responsible business behavior really boils down to what is done, not what is said,” said Kevin O’Marah, Chief Strategy Officer for AMR Research. “When it comes to burning fuel, harvesting resources, and employing people, no part of business does more than supply chain. AMR Research has studied the global supply chain for over 20 years and is thrilled to work with Stanford on this vital conference where practitioners will share lessons and goals for using the power of supply chain to solve some of the world’s most challenging environmental and social problems.”

“The most powerful way to foster social innovation is by promoting the mutual exchange of ideas, values, talent, and capital across sectors — what we call ‘dissolving boundaries’ through the collaboration of business, government, and nonprofits,” said Dale Miller, director of the Center for Social Innovation and the Class of 1968/Ed Zschau Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

“This conference provides a platform for supply chain executives and experts to work together toward the common goal of ensuring the availability of natural resources and supporting social reforms, while securing the efficient delivery of supplies,” said Lee.

The conference is part of the Global Supply Chain Management Forum’s Socially and Environmentally Responsible (SER) Supply Chains Program, which is focused on identifying best practices and developing new models and frameworks. To achieve this, the SER Program collaborates with a cross-section of industries and organizations, conducting SER-related research and student projects, developing new teaching cases and courses, and sharing knowledge through events and publications.

Conference fees are $495 for corporate members, $405 for nonprofit, education, and government attendees; discount available by March 5. Stanford Social Innovation Review subscribers will also receive a discount. To register, go to: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/ser/.

Members of the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum should register with Christina Stuhlmuller: stuhlmuller_christina@gsb.stanford.edu.