Our mission

Our mission is to promote ethics and excellence in businesses, to increase awareness about ethical challenges in the global market­place and to enable dialogue on the role of business in society.

"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without
integrity is dangerous and dreadful"
Samuel Johnson

The European Business Ethics Network supports initiatives at cross-European, National and regional levels. We have 18 National Networks established in several countries. There are active groups in over 40 countries and always the possibility of forming more established National EBEN Networks. Next to the many activities of our national networks or individual members the EBEN portfolio of activities is constantly expanding but at this moment our main activities are:

  • EBEN Annual Conference: hosted by a national team this conference brings together academics and practitioners around a central theme.
  • EBEN Research Conference: build around a central theme and aimed at academics in particular, this conference presents recent research or research in progress. It allows business ethicists from all fields to interchange their scientific work.
  • EBEN Doctoral Workshop: aimed at those undertaking a PhDs in business ethics this yearly event usually precedes the annual conference.
  • EBEN Interest Groups: Within EBEN several interest groups concentrate on one specific topic (e.g. SRI, CSR in SME’s etc.). These interest groups organise all kinds of activities open to everybody.
"Business underlies everything in our national life, including our spiritual life"
Woodrow Wilson
Business persons are active members of EBEN and EBEN explicitly wants to be a two way organisation where academics and businessperson constantly interact and learn from each other. We support business persons by offering:
  • The European Business Ethics forum: this yearly conference, co-organised with three partners focuses on ethics and compliance officers only. It is an ideal place for exchange of best practice.
  • An International network of academically informed competencies in the field of business ethics and related fields such as Corporate Social Responsibility, Accountability and Corporate Citizenship.
  • An arena for exchanging information on business initiatives taken and best practice.
  • International connections with business ethics researchers and consultancies.
  • Links and joint projects with associated networks around the world.
  • Access to business ethics tools such as Dilemma Training, Assessing Values in Organization and the potential for taking part in developing standards.
 
Through the activities of our members and the many conferences EBEN offers a constant stream of publications in business ethics with established links with the big publishing houses. We publish yearly special issues of the Journal of Business Ethics (special price to EBEN members attending the Annual conference) and ZFWU and have an institutional link with Business Ethics European Review. EBEN represents Europe on the International Business Ethics stage e.g. at the conferences of the International Society of Business, Ethics and Economics. We have extensive contacts with a number of affiliated organisations all active in the field of business ethics and CSR and are regularly active in political bodies preoccupied with CSR and business ethics.