Dear MSR friends,
Coller school of Management in Tel Aviv University , the European SPES Institute and the Business Ethics Center of the Corvinus University of Budapest are happy to invite you to participate in a 3 days conference in Tel Aviv, September 2017.
New Economy, Old Traditions: Caring Entrepreneurship
2017 Annual European SPES Conference
September 4-6, 2017
Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Submissions
Interested participants should send a detailed abstract of their planned presentation (about 500 words) accompanied by a short biographical note (100 words) electronically by March 31, 2017 to:
Laszlo Zsolnai,
President
European SPES Institute
Leuven
email: laszlo_zsolnai@interware.hu
Conference organizers are interested in receiving proposals for academic papers as well as practice oriented submissions.
Full papers should be submitted by July 30, 2017.
Topic of the Conference
The industrial economy is motivated only by economic objectives. Post-industrial economy recognizes the instead of us serving the economy, the economy has to serve our values. In other words, we strive for a multi-dimensional objective function, that in addition to economic motivation, considers also societal, environmental and spiritual values (consciousness, consumerism. etc.).
Spirituality in modern time changes. In agrarian societies people looked at the stars and understood that there is a cyclical relationship between the skies and the weather. It led to the development of early religions. And led to the belief that God (Gods) created everything, including human beings. Modern life have changed the way many people look at it. Up to the point that some people say that human beings created the concept of God. Recently there are debates between people that believe in God creating everything and those that think that everything is a result of random processes and evolution driven by natural selection. So many people become secular, and don't believe in after death survival and in Gods that carry an accounting system that will determine what will happen in after death world according to the person's deeds during life time. Spiritualism is changing and new concepts of basic moral rules develop. At the same time science is discovering very interesting effects where people can influence others with currently unexplained ways, and that even plants in the forest have some networks that protect the forest as a whole.
It is known that economies with high level of trust among people flourish more than in societies with low level of uniformity and trust. This is one example for how spirituality and faith traditions can fertilize business and entrepreneurs. And it demonstrates that spirituality could be useful for creating models for pressing social problems, including poverty, conflict, unemployment, environmental degradation and climate change. A new ethos of entrepreneurship needs to be developed in which caring for fellow human beings, future generations and nature play a primordial role. Practical wisdom of the Jewish and other faith traditions suggests that enterprises with a spiritual value orientation can flourish, and serve the interests of business and the wider community better than conventional enterprises following the narrow financial bottom line.
Issues to be addressed
How do the challenges of the new economy influence and transform entrepreneurship practices?
Is it possible to create a common multidimensional MERTICS that will guide decision makers in making consistent quantitative decisions?
How might religious faith traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.) better inform and guide entrepreneurial and management practice today?
How can responsibility for nature and future generations be defined and realized in business?
What is the relevance of Jewish moral philosophy (M. Buber, Hans Jonas, E. Levinas) for business and entrepreneurship in the 21st century?
How can spirituality influence the commitment of entrepreneurs to social well-being and sustainability?
How do spiritually driven entrepreneurs define and measure success in their business practice?
How can spiritually driven enterprises survive and flourish in competitive environments?
What are the key characteristics and consequences of caring entrepreneurship?
How do spiritual orientations and practices enhance entrepreneur's ability to discover, evaluate and implement opportunities?
How do spiritual orientations influence entrepreneurs to developing a caring attitude towards stakeholders?
Reflections on the meaning of "caring' as a key concept in business and social action
Does it make sense to talk about organizational approach to caring? Under what conditions?
Stories and case studies of caring entrepreneurship
Caring Entrepreneurship in feminist thinking and literature
What is the relationship between spiritual/religious practices and entrepreneurial creativity?
How can spiritually driven entrepreneurship contribute to the transformation of contemporary management theory and praxis?
How can community-based economic models contribute to healing and repairing the world?
Place and Date
The Conference will be held at the venue of the Tel Aviv University, in Tel Aviv, Israel. The conference will start on September 4, 2017 and will end on September 6, 2017 (3 day).
Academic Chairs
Yehuda Kahane, Professor emeritus, Faculty of Management, and Porter School of Environmental Studies, the former Head of the Institute for Business and the Environment, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
Laszlo Zsolnai, Professor and Director, Business Ethics Center, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary and President, European SPES Institute, Leuven, Belgium
Scientific Committee
Yochanan Altman, Professor, Middlesex University Business School, London, UK
Luk Bouckaert, Professor Emeritus, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Ron Margolin, Professor, Department of Jewish Philosophy and Comparative Religion, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Ora Setter, Former CEO and Academic Director of Lahav – Executive Education Center, Tel Aviv University, Israel. Adjunct faculty, Tel Aviv University and MDI, Gurgaon, India
Mike Thompson, Chairman, GoodBrand, London, UK and Adjunt Professor, Peter G. Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria, Canada
Participation Fee of the European SPES Annual Conference
200 Euros for regular participants
150 Euros for European SPES members
100 Euros for students and accompanying persons
Publication
Selected papers presented in the conference will be considered for a volume edited for Palgrave-Macmillan.
Postconference event
After the conference a guided tour to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea will be organized
Looking forward –
Ora
Dr. Ora Setter
Coller Faculty of Management
Tel Aviv University, Israel
Phone: +972-52-2584931
Email: ora@setter.co.il