Social enterprise & Business ethics

PRESENTATION

Three major goals:

to develop research in the areas of social enterprise and business ethics mainly from the perspectives of economics, management and organization theory
to develop, through its work, teaching in the areas of social enterprise and business ethics at the University of Liège and elsewhere
to participate in building an ecosystem that fosters the development of social enterprises and ethically-driven businesses.

Research projects cover a wide range of topics, both at the theoretical and empirical levels, using quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies:

conceptual work defining the notions of and related to social enterprise and business ethics
statistics measuring the scope of social and ethically-driven enterprises and key indicators (e.g. size, employment, growth, ethical dimensions, etc.)
social and environmental impact measurement
ethics in business, corporate social responsibility and partnerships between social enterprises, foundations and businesses
entrepreneurial profiles and trajectories of social and ethical entrepreneurs
emergence and development of social innovations in new fields of activity (e.g. ethical finance, fair trade, integration of low-skilled workers, etc.) and in the context of sustainability transition (e.g. recycling, renewable energy, short food supply chains, etc.)
financing of social enterprises, philanthropy and social investment
governance and HRM practices in social enterprises and foundations
institutionalization, networking and public policies
social enterprise and business ethics in developing countries

RESEARCH CENTERS

Center for Social Economy CES
International Research Center on the Public and Co-operative Economy (CIRIEC)
Associated researchers at HEC

The research projects are developed together with other international partners, such as the EMES International Research Network, of which the CES is a founding member and has hosted the Coordination Unit ever since. Other collaborations have been developed with universities (e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, etc.), management schools (e.g. ESSEC, HEC Paris, etc.) and international associations (e.g. ISTR) that develop research in the areas of social enterprise and business ethics.