IEF Huanxiu Guo
At 2:00 pm of 6th April, François Petit, Professor of Management in ESC-La Rochelle, France, was invited by the Institute of Economics and Finance (IEF) to give a “Runze” Forum Lecture entitled "Sustainable Economy and Social Responsibility" in room 203 South Jingxiu Building. Some teachers of the IEF and the Faculty of Finance attended the lecture, with more than 100 students from different faculties of Nanjing Audit University.
Prof. Petit first discussed the social and environmental constraints of the neoclassical economic development model from the perspective of sustainable economy and the shortcomings of using traditional GDP indicator to measure economic development. Professor Petit pointed out that the Biosphere is the basis of human society and all economic activities, which should be recorded as an important asset in enterprise's balance sheet. The core of sustainable economic development is to protect the Biosphere, and to achieve the balanced development of population growth, environmental protection and economic prosperity. In order to achieve this goal, private enterprises, as the main body of social and economic activities, should take action to assume the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Prof. Petit further elaborated on the specific practice of CSR from seven aspects: governance, human rights, working conditions, environment, good practice, consumer and local development.
In the lecture, Prof. Petit had an open discussion with young teachers and students such as how should multinational enterprises effectively implement CSR with respect to their international suppliers. Prof. Petit's French accent and clear logic have impressed students. At the end of the lecture, Prof. Petit said that he was very pleased by the enthusiasm of students, and hoped that our students could continue to study the CSR after the lecture. He believed that although the CSR is still in its starting point, the implementation of the CSR in China is of great significance. It can solve not only China's own environmental problems, but also the global climate change problems. This would need more efforts from our students.