Corporate social responsibility - seminar, Wed 17 Jan 2007
- 15 January 2007

DATE: Wednesday 17 January 2007
TIME: 9.15-12.30
VENUE: Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB)

DCUs Professor Ronnie Munck, will be chairing a seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility which take place in the Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown on Wednesday 17 January 2007, from 9.15-12.30.

The seminar has been organised by the DCU Business School, the Dublin Social Inclusion Observatory, NorDubCo and Business in the Community Ireland. They are collaborating with a consortium consisting of the Irish Exporters Association, Fingal County Council and the City and County Enterprise Boards.

The areas covered by the project will include workforce diversity, older employees, people with disabilities, socially excluded, worklife balance, local communities and supply chain.

Project-leader, Dr Ronaldo Munck, DCU Theme Leader for Business and Innovation said, "Employers have a duty of care to a range of stakeholders which includes employees and the local community as a whole. There is a role for public authorities and relevant partnerships in promoting socially and environmentally responsible practices by enterprises. SME's have been largely ignored by mainstream 'corporate social responsibility' advocates, and we seek to redress this imbalance".

Any individuals or SME who would like to attend should contact Dr Munck at: 01 7007898.

Ireland is changing rapidly in economic, social and cultural terms. The ‘Celtic Tiger’ has changed the way we do business. But in the last ten years, the major change has been the growing cultural diversity of our population and workforce. Today, some ten percent of workers come from outside Ireland and that proportion is growing steadily. How does ‘corporate social responsibility’ deal with and respond to cultural diversity? How does a small and medium enterprise (SME) deal with the equality legislation in regards to the ‘race ground’?

The new communities in Ireland – the 100 or so new national, ethnic or cultural groups in our society – are also becoming entrepreneurs. Increasingly, SME’s will be formed by people whose business experience is international. Who are the new ‘ethnic minority entrepreneurs’? What problems do they face? What lessons can we learn from them?

The speakers are as follows:

Maria Hegarty – Director of Equality Strategies and long-time consultant on equality legislation in business – who will address the diversity agenda of the SME sector.

Chinedu Onyelejem – Editor of Metro Eireann, Ireland’s first and only multicultural newspaper and 2006 recipient of the Person of the Year award – who will discuss the lessons to be learned, from the last decade of minority ethnic entrepreneurs.

Ken Germaine – Director of the Emerge programme in Blanchardstown, that promotes entrepreneurships and business start-up among ethnic minorities – who will examine the practical problems and way to overcome them in the area of minority ethnic SME’s.

ENDS