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Global Voice Magazine #35
Brave New world? With a little effort, a better one than you may think.
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The spring 2026 issue #35 of the CoBS Global Voice magazine.
Welcome to the Council on Business & Society’s Global Voice spring issue magazine #35 – Brave New World? With a little effort, a better one than you may think, a subtitle to this issue inspired by CoBS Academic Director Adrian Zicari’s opening Editorial that draws on Aldous Huxley’s thought-provoking novel Brave New World published in 1932 and with impact ever since!
Global Voice #35 features 14 research and professional insights from 17 CoBS member faculty, guest academics and in-the-field practitioners.
The issue’s 93 pages are proposed in 2 sections:
The Management & Leadership section opens with internationally recognised CSR and Corporate Governance researchers Profs. Tanusree Jain, Copenhagen Business School, and Adrian Zicari, ESSEC Business School, with an insight based on their recently published research on re-thinking governance in the age of sustainability and the role of the company in generating social welfare.
Next, an interview with leading Japanese academic Prof. Keikoh Ryu on his new book, published in February, that looks into how western management practice can take inspiration from altruism and the life and achievements of the legendary Kazuo Inamori. How to achieve happiness? Well, Prof. Lisa Bevill of IE Business School tackles the question with a focus on nature, community, and purpose. Effective team composition and incentives are covered by ESSEC and HEC Paris Profs. Sara Rezaee Vessal and Svenja Sommer with research into the effects of uncertainty on collaboration and information sharing.
Following in section 1, Fudan professor and CoBS Representative Qinqin Zheng shares findings on how digital tools can quietly kill innovation – or not! Prof. Elspeth Murray at Smith School of Business then explores how business schools are adapting their teaching and skills for future generations of managers and leaders, while the final insight in Section 1 from guest academic Trevor Young-Hyman at the University of Pittsburgh offers research insights into democracy at work and its impact of company performance and employee wellbeing.
Section 2 – Sustainability – features CoBS Rep Prof. Frederik Dahlmann of Warwick Business School who calls for a reframing of sustainability as the pursuit of life, and Prof. Mario Monzoni from FGV-EAESP on climate adaptation as a corporate strategy to deal with climate risk.
ESSEC Prof. Wilfried Sand-Zantman then shares his research into the environmental cost of internet regulation, while 3 practitioner insights follow, with Sai Shrikar Desina, Shalom Alugwe, and Maggy Tual offering their expertise on AI solutions for vineyards in Canada, what lessons we can learn from Gen Z on sustainability, and the luxury industry and the strategic imperative for transparency and traceability.
Finally, Section 2 closes with guest academic Prof. Renata Peregrino de Brito from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro with a spotlight on why climate adaptation inside organisations is rarely straightforward.
And of course, another inspiring Editorial from CoBS Academic Director Adrian Zicari takes us down the path of Brave New World and the current global context to reveal a promising better new world than we would have thought possible.
As we step out into spring in the northern hemisphere, the lengthening of days, and of renewed sunlight we wish all of you – our readers – an enjoyable and interesting read. And above all, positive reflection on the future of business, society, and planet.
With warm regards,
Tom Gamble and the CoBS Editorial and Publishing Team.
Special issue Harvard BiGS-CoBS Magazine
COMPANIES & PURPOSE: Purpose-driven business and its imprint on employees, profit, society, and planet
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Special Harvard Institute for Business in Global Society - Council on Business & Society issue:
Companies & Purpose
Welcome to the very special issue magazine co-published by The Harvard Business School Institute for Business in Global Society and the Council on Business & Society:
COMPANIES & PURPOSE: Purpose-driven business and its imprint on employees, profit, society, and planet
In this second collaboration, Harvard BiGS & CoBS offer you 106 pages of insights and 24 articles from globally recognised faculty and prominent business leaders from around the world to propose a truly global and also regional perspective on the ever-important issue of purpose and its impact on corporate value, employee motivation, society, and planet.
This special issue kicks off with an introductory Editorial by Prof. Debora Spar, Senior Associate Dean, Business and Global Society at Harvard Business School, and Adrian Zicari, Academic Director of the CoBS, and professor of Accounting at ESSEC Business School.
Three sections follow: Companies & the changing landscape, Leading by example – purposeful businesses, and Global Perspectives on Companies & Purpose.
Section 1 highlights include exploring the role that business plays in solving social problems, how companies can manage the dual mandate of profit and purpose, the purpose ecosystem and how private actors and stakeholders help companies reach the SDGs, and finally business for good – an update on the shifting landscape since the 2019 pledge by 181 US CEOs
Section 2 includes a focus on the increasing interest in company ownership and how it brings wealth to the wider base, the strategic nature of integrity in corporate governance and purpose, caregiving and companies – how it boosts corporate value and workforce motivation, and corporate business coopetition as a strategy for building a better world.
Section 3 explores the bigger picture and features, among other super insights, innovations from the global south that combine profit and purpose, the move beyond the business case for equality, reframing sustainability as purpose, and a focus on Latin American CEOs and responsible leadership that impacts business and society.
So, as this seemingly exceptional year of change, complexity and challenge moves on, we hope you enjoy this special issue co-developed by two of the world’s most influential actors in responsible business at the crossroads of society and planet. We’d be delighted to hear from you – your feedback, comments and ideas – and please feel free to join in the debate either by contacting us through this website, or through the contact details on page 2 of this magazine.
Kind regards,
The Harvard BiGS-CoBS Editorial Team
Global Voice Magazine and special issue magazines
The Council on Business & Society's quarterly magazine Global Voice features research-based, practitioner, and opinion-piece insights made readable for the student, practitioner and instructor on business and society, management and leadership, sustainability, entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship, CSR, ESG, green finance and social and environmental impact and reporting.
The CoBS also co-publishes special issue magazines and white papers with our partners who include The Harvard Institute for Business in Global Society, GRLI and GBSN.
Download by clicking on the front covers.

























