Católica Porto Business School‘s (CPBS) mission includes the development of business professionals for a global, sustainable and ethical society. Since its inception, CPBS’s mission and raison d’être have been strongly rooted in principles of Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability (ERS). In 1996, the undergraduate programme in Management was pioneer in introducing business ethics in the curricula, a theme now present throughout our educational offers and research. ERS are deeply entrenched in CPBS’ humanist and person-centered values.
We aim to transform management education, research, and thought leadership globally through innovative educational frameworks, deep learning communities, and by raising awareness of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Thus, we are proud members of major international networks on ERS. We are members of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) since November 2018. We are also represented and actively engaged as associate partners in the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI), an international, multi-sector community focused on catalysing the development of globally responsible leadership and practice. As part of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, CPBS partakes in the United Nations Global Compaq, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, aiming at adopting a principles-based approach to doing business, meeting fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
CPBS has a number of high-impact initiatives in ERS. Our Ethics Forum promotes the exchange of experiences among organisations and knowledge development in the field of ethics. The INSURE.Hub aims to develop practice-oriented research that promotes the implementation of innovative strategies and management processes in a circular economy perspective. The LEAD.Lab focuses on responsible leadership, contributing to a more humane, virtuous, and effective leadership of teams and organisations. The Service Management Lab (S.Lab) researches the use of industrial products in the context of performance-based contracts (advanced services), resulting in substantial environmental gains.
These and other initiatives are valuable to give shape and structure to the deeply ingrained values of CPBS, as well as guide our reflection and future actions.