Eben Research Conference 2016

Eben Research Conference 2016

(Italy - Palermo 8/9 September 2016)

eben

Despite the strengthened debate and the general interest in ethical behavior and ethical disclosure, the link between these two aspects is still an under-investigated topic. Despite some critical analysis, in the last years the ethical foundations of social/sustainability disclosure (but also generically of corporate disclosure) and the consistency between disclosure and business practices has not always been analyzed in depth.

Even in light of the recent scandals that highlighted the gap between the entrepreneurial/managerial action and the content of the disclosure documents, the conference proposes to think about the risk that these documents are simply tools of impression management or managerial capture. This topic is strongly relevant considering that in the last years news tools (e.g., integrated reporting) have been developed and their goals and main consequences are not fully clear. In a physiological view, the ethical culture and behavior of an organization should entail the adoption of tools able to show the actual corporate behavior but also to spread the values of that organization. Actually the corporate disclosure, indeed, seems often characterized by an opportunistic approach. Therefore, the general topic of the conference can be studied in terms of research of the philosophical foundations of corporate accountability and moral responsibility according to which the firms should ground their communication towards stakeholders. Many other crucial questions could be debated in the conference, for example: if voluntary and not standardized social disclosure could be more able to strengthen the compliance with moral norms, or if it encourages not coherent corporate behaviors; if the choice of different users of the corporate disclosure reports (all stakeholders or only investors) can affect the transparency, the consistency, reliability and the effectiveness of the communication.

The EBEN Research Conference 2016 will focus on this particular field that is the understanding of the complex relations between the ethical behavior and the way in which the business decides to disclosure this behavior. We also invited to propose papers that are able to depict not only the link between the two aspect but also the meaning and mechanism that characterize ethical behavior and ethical disclosure. We proposed the following research themes and major research tracks at the conference:

Social and Integrated Disclosure: ethical foundations and implications
Corruption: implications in terms of ethical behavior and ethical disclosure
Social Entrepreneurship and ethical behavior
Ethical Behavior and disclosure in public management
Philosophical premises for an ethical behavior in markets and organizations
Environmental/sustainable management and business ethics

Preliminary program of the conference (the timetables are approximate)

8^th September

8:30 Registration
9:00 Welcome Address
9:30 Plenary session - Ethical Behavior and Ethical Disclosure. Keynote speakers: Domenec Melé (Iese Business School – University of Navarra - http://www.iese.edu/en/faculty-research/professors/faculty-directory/domenec-mele/), Lorenzo Sacconi (University of Trento - Curriculum )
10:40 Coffee Break
11.00 Workshop Sessions for Presentation of Selected Papers
13:30 Light Lunch
14:45 Round table - Different perspectives in the European Business Ethics Approach: the ethical dimension of the business governance (with the participation of the Presidents of the National Chapters of Eben)
16:45 Special track: Volkswagen: Das problem - Ethics and CSR challenges (organized by prof. Schlierer and prof. Fassin) and Workshop Sessions for Presentation of Selected Papers
20:30 Conference Dinner

9^th September

9:15 Workshop Sessions for Presentation of Selected Papers
11:00 Coffee Break
11:15 Special track: Didactic techniques for teaching business ethics and Workshop Sessions for Presentation of Selected Papers
13:00 Conclusion: Final Speech by Prof. Chris Cowton (University of Huddersfield) - https://www.hud.ac.uk/ourstaff/profile/index.php?staffuid=sbuscjc

Deadlines

30th of March (abstract)
20th of April (acceptance)
30th of June (full o short paper)
30th of July (final acceptance)

Submission process:

Authors should submit the full papers (Font: Times New Roman 12) by email to marcantonio.ruisi@unipa.it, sergio.paternostro@unipa.it. For the submission the authors should send a file with a cover page with information about authors (name, affiliation, email, corresponding author) and a second page with the paper. It is not required a specific format for the full papers. The authors have the possibility to submit a draft (a short paper or a working paper) and then discussing in the conference an updated version. The draft should have the basic elements of the paper (research question, theoretical background, methodology, results or expected results, contribution ) and the minimum length of the draft version should be 3.000 words. The authors that want to participate in a special tracks should indicate it in the mail or in the cover page of the full paper. The final acceptance of the papers will be evaluated mainly in terms of improvement of the work based on the suggestions of reviewers.

Registration:

Registration fees	*Early bird (until 30^th June 2016)*	*After 30^th June 2016 and until 30^thJuly*	*After 30^th July 2016 and until 30^thAugust***
EBEN Members	EUR 260	EUR 300	EUR 340
EBEN Non-Members	EUR 330	EUR 370	EUR 400
M.A. and Phd Students	EUR 70	EUR 90	EUR 120
Accompanying persons	EUR 100

How to register?

Registration for the conference should be done through the registration form available at Registration form.

This file must be send to g.amato@arces.it and sergio.paternostro@unipa.it . The registration is confirmed only after the payment of the fees.

Methods of payment

All payments must be made in Euros and only by bank transfer:

- The name of account: E.M. ASSOCIAZIONE ARCES

- BIC SWIFT: UNCRITM1856

- IBAN: IT32 H020 0804 6380 0030 0225 214

- Reason of the payment: : Eben Research Conference Palermo – Fee (Name of participant)

The registration will be confirmed only after receiving the copy of the payment sent by email to g.amato@arces.it and sergio.paternostro@unipa.it .

There is not possibility to onsite registration.

The accompanying persons fee includes: lunch in the site of the conference, social dinner and a tour of the city.

Conference Locations

8^th September 2016 – Palazzo Chiaramonte Steri (Piazza Marina 61, 90133, Palermo)

Palazzo Chiaramonte-Steri: It is an historical palace built in the last years of the thirteenth century and completed in 1320. The Steri was the principal castle of the Chiaramonte family but in its history the palace assumed different functions: it housed the Aragonese-Spanish Viceroys of Sicily; it was the seat of Sicily's chief tribunal of the Holy Inquisition, serving in this role until the institution's abolition in 1782; since 1984 it is the main building of the University of Palermo, housing the Rector's office. The immediate area was part of the most important part of Arab Palermo and most of the more important historical monuments of the city are in this district. The spaces used for the conference are the “Sala Magna” and the “Chiesa di Sant’Antonio (Church of St. Anthony)”.

9^th September – Department of Economics Business and Statistics, University of Palermo (Viale delle Scienze, Building 13, 90128, Palermo)

Accomodation:

Below are a variety of hotels and Bed and Breakfast accommodation options that are available for booking for the duration of the EBEN research conference and that are in proximity of the conference locations or easily reachable by public transportation. You can book these hotels and Bed and Breakfast by their websites signaling that you will participate in Eben Research Conference organized by University of Palermo (with the structure underscored we or University of Palermo have a special agreement):

Hotels

Quinto canto (****) http://www.quintocantohotel.com/

Eurostars Centrale Palace (****) http://www.eurostarscentralepalace.com/

Hotel Porta Felice (****) http://hotelportafelice.it/

Palazzo Sitano (****) http://www.hotelpalazzositano.it/

Ibis Style Palermo (****) http://www.ibis.com/it/hotel-9132-ibis-styles-palermo/index.shtml

Palazzo Brunaccini (****) http://palazzobrunaccini.it/

Hotel Federico II (****) http://www.grandhotelfedericoii.it/en/

Hotel Garibaldi (****) http://www.hotelgaribaldipalermo.it/

Hotel Nh Palermo (****) http://www.nh-hotels.it/hotel/nh-palermo

Artemisia Palace Hotel (****) http://artemisiapalacehotel.it/index.php

Plaza Opera Hotel (****) http://www.hotelplazaopera.com/en/