Created in 1990, the goal of the Burkenroad Institute is to increase the understanding of and promote through research and education the ethical decision making of business leaders. More and more, one hears of the moral obligations of business leaders to their customers, employees, communities, and the natural environment being discussed in conjunction with traditional "bottom-line" concerns. Increasingly, ethical leadership is not seen as something separate from business leadership. Thus, the demands made on business leaders continue to grow; and, the Institute, through research and education, continues to help meet the challenges of managing ethically. The Institute also fosters open forums among students, faculty, executives, and community leaders on the moral obligations of business professionals.
Through the Annual Symposium on Business and Society, the Institute's objective is to focus attention on the corporate social responsibilities of business leaders, as well as to stimulate thought among students, faculty, executives, and community leaders concerning some of the difficult issues that face today's managers.
National experts in business, education, journalism, and policy-making participate in this annual conference. Free and open to all, the Symposium's purpose is to inspire the leadership of New Orleans, in both the public and private sectors, to envision a positive, productive, and prosperous future for the City.
Past Symposium participants include: Dr. Cornel West (Harvard University), Professor Stephen L. Carter (Yale University), Kurt Eichenwald (The New York Times), Ward Connerly (chairman, American Civil Rights Institute), Professor Faye Crosby (University of California at Santa Cruz), William H. Gray (President & CEO, United Negro College Fund), Drs. Michael E. Porter and William Julius Wilson (Harvard University), and Johnathan Kozol (National Book Award winning author).
Topics such as "Lying in Business"; "Managing Diversity: Where Are All the Women?"; "Race Matters in the Workplace"; "Truth in Advertising: Fact or Fiction?"; "Affirmative Action: Who Deserves Opportunity?"; "Urban Poverty: What Can Business Really Do?"; "Building Alliances: Education and Business"; and "Social Entrepreneurship: One Idea Can Change the World" have been addressed in past Symposia.
Laura B. Cardinal is the Director of the William B. and Evelyn Burkenroad Institute and Associate and Exxon Professor of Strategy at the A. B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Her areas of expertise include managing innovation and R&D capabilities and understanding the evolution and adaptation of control systems. Laura is a National Science Foundation grant recipient and has published in Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Academy of Management Journal, and Journal of Accounting and Economics. She serves on the editorial boards of the Strategic Management Journal and Organization Science.
