Council on Business & Society || ESSEC

The Council on Business & Society (CoBS), visionary in its conception and mission, was founded in 2011 by ESSEC Business School. The CoBS is dedicated to promoting responsible leadership and tackling issues at the crossroads of business and society, including sustainability, diversity, ethical leadership, and the role responsible business has to play in contributing to the common good.

The CoBS firmly believes that today’s challenges cannot be met by one country alone, it offers a unique global thought local perspective on issues relating to CSR, sustainability and responsible business practices.

The Council effectively contributes to the “internationalization”, “ethics and social responsibility” and “corporate relations” chapters for accreditations and rankings. It has a global voice, with an annual organic digital footprint of 1.4 million and was ranked the 6th largest CSR influencer on Twitter in 2020 by the Social Media Research Foundation.

The CoBS alliance has 11 member schools – leading regional and international institutions present on 6 continents and in 15 countries. Together, they count 21 campuses, 49,000 students, and 482,000 alumni.

Council on Business & Society

ESSEC Business School, France, Singapore, Morocco
FGV-EAESP, Brazil
School of Management Fudan University, China
IE Business School, Spain
Keio Business School, Japan
Monash Business School, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia
Olin Business School, USA
Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, Canada
Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa
Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Warwick Business School, United Kingdom.

The CoBS is a member of and/or has partnerships with UN PRME, GBSN, GRLI, the OECD, and the Routledge-Taylor & Francis Group.

Research & Publications: Weekly research-based insights on CSR, ESG, and sustainability; a quarterly magazine Global Voice, the Routledge-CoBS Focus on Responsible Business book series.

Pedagogy: Condensed learning capsules, research digests, and the CoBS International Advanced Certificate in Responsible Business Practices

Events: A yearly, inter-school student CSR article competition, a monthly Green Jobs Board, thematic business, education, and society conferences at the Academy of Management, online masterclasses and annual workshops.

For more information, visit the CoBS website

For thought leadership, see CoBS Insights