Category: speaking

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Webinar: The Future of Business

The future of business: How to survive and thrive in a climate constrained world

Join us for a Webinar on August 28

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/976040394

Climate change presents a significant long term risk, as well as an opportunity, for business and society. Dr Visser will summarize the latest scientific findings and trends to 2050, before looking at the range of business responses, from defensive, charitable and promotional approaches to more strategic and trans-formative actions. He will outline visions of a safe, smart, shared, sustainable and satisfying future in a climate constrained world, and propose steps for implementing a resilient strategy across five dimensions: re-assessing (performance), re-aligning (partnerships), re-defining (purpose), re-designing (products) and re-structuring (policies).

Dr Wayne Visser has been listed as one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior and is the recipient of the Global CSR Excellence & Leadership Award. He is Director of the think-tank Kaleidoscope Futures and Founder of CSR International. Before getting his PhD in Corporate Social Responsibility, he was Director of Sustainability Services for KPMG and Strategy Analyst for Cap Gemini in South Africa. He is the author of twenty books, with his work taking him to 69 countries in the last 20 years. He lives in Cambridge, UK, where he is a Senior Associate at the University’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Title: The future of business: How to survive and thrive in a climate constrained world
Date: Thursday, August 28, 2014
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Mac®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.6 or newer
Mobile attendees
Required: iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phone or Android tablet

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2014 Calendar – Recent & Upcoming Events

January 2014

14-15 January: Bordeaux, FRANCE – Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility (MBA course lectures, Kedge Business School)

February 2014

18 February: Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA – Sustainable Design & Technology: “Eco-innovation” (Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership)

20 February – 1 March: Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA – Sustainable Business (MBA course lectures, Gordon Institute of Business Science)

March 2014

6 March: Guadalajara, MEXICO – Sustainability Innovation & Change Management (Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Guadalajara)

7 March: Guadalajara, MEXICO – Strategies for making  your business  Future Fit (Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Guadalajara)

7 March: Guadalajara, MEXICO – The Art and Practice of Sustainability Leadership (Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Guadalajara)

11 March: Ghent, BELGIUM – CSR is Failing: How Can We Make it Succeed? (Keynote speech, Flemish CSR Association)

12 March: Amersvoort, NETHERLANDS – Beyond CSR 2.0: From Responsibility to Resilience (Keynote speech, Beyond CSR)

20 March: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – Sustainability Codes and Standards: Influential or Impotent?  (MSt lecture, University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership)

April 2014

23 April: London, UNITED KINGDOM – CSR Survives: But Can it Thrive? (Keynote speech, Net Impact).

May 2014

5 May: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – Visions of a future-fit world: safe, shared, smart, sustainable & satisfying (Lecture, University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing)

7 May: Vienna, AUSTRIA – Moving ahead with technology (Presentation, UNEP-UNIDO Eco-Innovation workshop)

13 May: Melbourne, AUSTRALIA – Creating Shared Value: Revolution or Clever Con? (Speech, Deakin Business School Alumni Network)

13 May: Melbourne, AUSTRALIA – The Art and Practice of Sustainability Leadership (Lecture, Deakin Business School Faculty Seminar)

22 May: Seoul, SOUTH KOREA – Strategies for Surviving and Thriving in the Future (Keynote speech, KOSRI)

28 May: Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA – Your Future Fitness as a Leader & Transforming your Organisation (Dimension Data programme run by Gordon Institute for Business Science)

29-30 May: Harare, ZIMBABWE – CSR 2.0: Beyond CSV and CSR 1.0 (Keynote speech, Regional Centre for Social Responsibility, CSR Indaba)

June 2014

5-8 June: Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA – Innovation for Future Fitness (MBA course lectures, Gordon Institute of Business Science)

July 2014

10 July: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – Sustainability Codes and Standards (Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Value Chains, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership)

10 July: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – Leadership for Change (Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Value Chains, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership)

August 2014

5 August: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – Sustainable Design and Technology: Eco-Innovation (MSt course lecture, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership)

28 August: Ann Arbor, USA (delivered virtually) – The Future of Business: How to Survive and Thrive in a Climate Constrained World (Webinar, Omnex).

September 2014

16 September: Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA (delivered virtually) – Beyond CSR to CIV: Creating Integrated Value (keynote speech, AgendaRSE).

18 September: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – The Quest for Sustainable Business (MSt course lecture, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership)

19 September: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – Strategies for Making your Business Future-Fit (MSt course lecture, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership)

October 2014

3 October 2014: Colombo, SRI LANKA – The Art and Practice of Sustainability Leadership (Keynote speech, CSR Conference, CSR Sri Lanka).

17 October: Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA (delivered virtually) – Futures Thinking (Global Executive Development Programme lecture, Gordon Institute for Business Science)

23 October: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – Being an Effective Change Agent (MSt course lecture, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership)

November 2014

21 November: Moscow, RUSSIAN FEDERATION – CSR 2.0 in the context of modern challenges (Keynote speech, Conference on Philosophy and Culture of Social Responsibility, Moscow State Institute of International Relations)

26-29 November: Stockholm, SWEDEN – Sustainable Development & CSR (MBA lectures, Stockholm School of Economics SSE Riga)

December 2014

3-5 December: Bordeaux, FRANCE – Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility (MBA lectures, Kedge Business School)

8-12 December: Quito, ECUADOR – Creating Shared Value: Beyond CSR and CSV (Part of CSR Week, Hexagon / S2M).

Bookings

For more background information, see my speaking and lecturing profile.

To book a keynote speech, lecture or training event, please use the Contact form.

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2013 Calendar – Recent & Upcoming Events

December 2013

11-12 December: Bangalore, INDIA – CSR 2.0: The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility (Keynote speech, International Symposium on Corporate Social Responsibility).

13 December: Mumbai, INDIA – Embedding CSR & Empowering CSR Champions (Masterclass, GIZ Center for Responsible Business).

November 2013

25 November: Stockholm, SWEDEN – CSR 2.0: The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility (Keynote speech, CSR Västsverige).

27-29 November: Stockholm, SWEDEN – Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility (MBA course lectures, Stockholm School of Economics)

October 2013

16 October: Winchester, UNITED KINGDOM – CSR 2.0 in the Age of Responsibility (Public talk, Winchester Business School)

28 October: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – Future-Fitness: Strategies for the next wave of mega-trends (Atos Expert Programme, Cambridge University: Institute for Manufacturing)

31 October: Barranca, COLOMBIA – CSR 2.0: The Future of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (Keynote speech, FUNDESMAG)

September 2013

2/3 September: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – Trends in Eco-Innovation (Lecture, University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership)

12 September: Online, AUSTRIA – Making ISO 26000 Transformative (Webinar, respACT: Austrian Business Council for Sustainable Development)

August 2013

1 August: Irkutsk, RUSSIA – CSR 2.0: The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility (Seminar, Coca-Cola Company)

7 August: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – The Quest for Sustainable Business (Lecture, University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership)

June 2013

18 June: Washington, DC, USA – Future-Fit: Trends Shaping Sustainable Business over the Next 15 Years. (Keynote speech, Sustainability Forum, International Finance Corporation IFC).

25-27 June: Quito, ECUADOR – International CSR certification to the S2M standard. (Validation & training, S2M, Hexagon Consultores, British-Ecuador Chamber of Commerce)

May 2013

16 May: Seoul, SOUTH KOREA – Beyond CSR: Are you Fit for the Future? (Keynote speech, ISO 26000 & CSR International Conference, Korea Social Responsibility Institute)

29 May: Paris, FRANCE – Moving Ahead with Technology for Eco-Innovation (Research validation workshop, United Nations Environment Programme)

April 2013

16 April: Copenhagen, DENMARK – CSR 2.0: A Transformative Strategy for Business (Keynote speech, Who Cares Wins 2013)

29 April – 3 May: Warwick, UNITED KINGDOM – Governance & Corporate Responsibility (MiM course lectures, Warwick Business School)

March 2013

 4-5, 8 March: Warwick, UNITED KINGDOM – Business in Society (MBA course lectures, Warwick Business School)

16 March: Zurich, SWITZERLAND – Five Strategies to Make your Business “Future-Fit” (Conference presentation, 6th Zurich Business Forum, Lorange Institute of Business Zurich)

19 March: Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM – The Quest for Sustainable Business (MSt lecture, Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership)

February 2013

19 February: Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA – The Quest for Sustainable Business (Public presentation, Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership)

21-22, 25 February – 1 March: Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA – Sustainable Business (MBA course lectures, Gordon Institute of Business Science)

27 February: Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA – The Quest for Sustainable Business (Executive breakfast talk, Trialogue)

January 2013

22-23 January: Bordeaux, FRANCE – Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility (MBA course lectures, BEM Bordeaux Management School)

Bookings

For more background information, see my speaking and lecturing profile.

To book a keynote speech, lecture or training event, please use the Contact form.

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Speaker Q&A

Interview by Speakers Corner

How did the corporate speaking all start?

It probably began at university, when I was President of AIESEC, an international economics and commerce students organisation, but only really took off when I launched my first business book, Beyond Reasonable Greed.

Can you remember your first speaking engagement?

It was at high school, when I entered a public speaking competition. The topic I chose was ‘wisdom’ and I won the cup for the best speaker.

And your last event?

My last ‘event’ is really a series of events, as I am on a continuous 12 month, 20 country, 50 event ‘CSR Quest’ lecture tour. My last event in this series was for a business school in Pune, India (earlier this week), and today I am at a conference in Kiev, Ukraine.

Which event has been your favourite and why?

Addressing the Heligan Dialogue Process in Mexico City. This is a committee of the G8 and G5 countries. I found it interesting because this North-South group are at the fulcrum upon which the future is being shaped. A contrasting and equally fascinating event that I addressed was the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Cape Town.

If you could speak at any event, past or future, what would it be?

It would be an event hosted by former South African president, Nelson Mandela or (since we are fantasising here), one where Leonardo Da Vinci was participating.

Who would you most like to share a platform with?

One of the most profound thinkers and writers I have met (and interviewed), Fritjof Capra.

On average, how many times a year do you speak at corporate events?

2010 is an unusual year, with my world lecture tour, where I will probably speak at 50 events. In a more typical year, it is probably half that.

Do you use powerpoint

Yes, although I try to make the slides as graphic as possible, and to avoid bullet points.

Are you as happy speaking to 50 as to 1,000 people?

Yes, I like both ends of the spectrum. Obviously the delivery style varies, with the latter being more interactive.

How do you like to be introduced?

As a writer, social entrepreneur and eternal student on the impacts of business on society. More formally, as Founder & Director of CSR International, author of books (most on the role of business in society) and Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership. And a poet, for pleasure.

Do you always like to do a briefing call before the event?

No. I think briefing notes and the conference topic and agenda suffice. Speakers should be given some leeway in addressing their subject.

What are the most asked for topics?

In my field (the role of business in society), the most popular topics are The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR 2.0 (as I call it), climate change & business, and creating social change through business.

Is your speech at all interactive with audience participation?

If the audience size allows it, I always like to involve the audience through questions, discussion and even group breakouts.

Do you have any funny/embarrassing speaking anecdotes you care to share?

I was once presenting on a business school campus, using a computer that was connected to the internet. In the middle of the presentation, a porn site loaded. I had my back to the screen, so I couldn’t understand what the students were laughing at. It was probably a set up, but was good for a laugh.

Your favourite film?

Brazil. There is so much that is wise, funny and disturbing in that movie that I can watch it over an over. It is a parody of our institutions, our obsessions and a warning for the future.

Favourite book?

Shantaram (by Gregory Roberts), followed closely by Possession (A.S. Byatt) and The Bridge Across Forever (Richard Bach).

Favourite holiday destination?

This would have to be Egypt. I took a trip down the Nile to all the temples. The history, architecture and ancient culture were just fascinating.

What’s your tipple – wine, beer, champagne?

I have an alcoholic sweet tooth, so it would be a South African liqueur called Amarula (a cream liqueur made from Marula fruit). I like port wine as well.

Country or townie?

I like cities, which are more dynamic and diverse, so long as I can get a regular dose of nature.

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