Professor Oliver Williams
Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame
United Nations Global Compact Foundation

Recent research in South Africa and worldwide reveals growing distrust of business and new demands on business leaders to set higher ethical standards and take on new social responsibilities.  How can business close the gap between current performance and public expectations?  Are new lines being drawn on what constitutes responsible corporate citizenship?  How do these new demands posing challenges for leaders?  What are the leaders of global multinationals saying?  What’s ahead? 

Professor Oliver Williams is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the evolving role of business in society.   Prof Williams serves on the Board of Directors of the United Nations Global Compact Foundation and is a former chair of the U.S. Board of the United States-South Africa Leadership Development Program.   He is Director of the Center for Ethics and Religious Values in Business and a Professor of Management at the University of Notre Dame.  Appointed annually as a visiting professor to several leading South Africa business schools for more than 25 years, he is ideally placed to share insights into economic and political implications for leaders in the Nelson Mandela Bay. 

Professor Williams recently was recognized by Business Week magazine as a leading MBA professor.  He is editor or author of twenty books and has published numerous articles in business journals, including the Harvard Business Review, California Management Review and Journal of Corporate Citizenship, among others. He is a past chair of the Social Issues Division of the Academy of Management. His most recent books are Corporate Social Responsibility: The Role of Business in Sustainable Development (Routledge) and Sustainable Development: The UN Global Compact, and the Common Good (University of Notre Dame Press).

To register for the public lecture Leadership and the Changing Role of Business in Society with Prof Oliver Williams, please complete the online booking form here.