License to operate

The theme of the EBEN 2013 Annual Conference is “License to operate”. In a narrow sense the ‘license to operate’ means the stakeholders’ approval of a particular business project that can affect their lives. The term could be understood differently, however. It could be applied to the acceptance or non-acceptance of the expansion of profit-seeking business into sectors of activity that, at least in Europe, were formerly performed by the state or non-for profit institutions (healthcare, education, utilities, etc). Or, more broadly, the ‘license to operate’ could refer to an implicit social contract between corporations and society at large.

The discussion about the legitimacy of corporations is an old one. But we think that the context has evolved and that the awareness and the expectations of the public have changed. 

The conference is preceded by a one-day doctoral workshop.

Details on: