
Redirecting Business Performance Passed
Tuesday May 6, 2025 15:30 - 16:30 CEST DEEP DIVES / AUDI I (2nd floor)
Speakers: Bhushan Sethi, Claudia Oeking, Heerad Sabeti, Helena Leurent, Jonathan Rose, Richard HuelsmannModerator: Colin Mayer
Theme: HUMAN FLOURISHING
Global challenges – such as climate change, inequality, and biodiversity loss – cannot be solved without the involvement of businesses. However, current systems legally and commercially pressure businesses into prioritizing profits over social or environmental concerns. As a result, businesses’ goals often conflict with societal well-being and sustainability. Voluntary actions by businesses are insufficient, as these efforts often fail when they threaten profitability. Neither businesses nor policymakers alone can fix this misalignment. A new governance framework is needed – one that allows businesses to remain profitable while supporting environmental sustainability and social equity. This framework must be both conceptually and practically developed to guide policy and create equal opportunities, integrating profit with responsibility to people and the planet. Co-created by business leaders, policymakers, and civil society, it would include new laws, regulations, incentives, and procurement rules at international, regional, and national levels. These would all be designed to reshape business behavior for a sustainable and inclusive future.
This session is held in collaboration with the Oxford Rethinking Performance Initiative (ORP) at the University of Oxford.
Speakers
Bhushan Sethi Speaker
Partner, PWC US & Adjunct Professor, NYU Stern School of Business
PWC
Claudia Oeking Speaker
Head of Public Affairs
Airbus
Heerad Sabeti Speaker
CEO
Fourth Sector Group
Helena Leurent Speaker
Director General
Consumers International
Jonathan Rose Speaker
President
Jonathan Rose Companies
Richard Huelsmann Speaker
Head of Programmes, Social and Governance
UN Global Compact Network Germany
Colin Mayer Moderator
Emeritus Professor of Management Studies
Said Business School, University of Oxford