Nearly 100 corporate leaders from the Chicago Metro attended a CEO Summit at the Quinlan School of Business, an event that kicked off Quinlan’s Signature Series of events. The panel discussed the impact of corporate social responsibility on business, government and education, as well as the benefits to balancing shareholder and stakeholder interests.
General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.); Shaun Budnik, KPMG, LLP, partner; Robert L. Parkinson, Jr., Baxter International chairman and CEO; Paul La Schiazza, AT&T Illinois president; and Edward Wehmer, Wintrust president and CEO, were just a few of executives who were in attendance. Here’s what a few of the panelists had to say:
Paul La Schiazza on the importance of corporate social responsibility:
“That’s because how we do business is just as important as what we do. Living up to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and respect is the most important commitment we can make — to each other, our customers, our business partners and our shareholders.”
Colin Powell discussed how every business needs to think beyond its business goals and consider how to improve the community around them:
“It can’t just be about making profits. You have to embed corporate social responsibility in the DNA of the company. It has to be part of the lifeblood of a company, and it starts at the top.”
When panel moderator Pamela McCoy asked panelists to discuss how industry, government, and academia can collaborate to positively impact the common good of our local and global communities, Edward Wehmer said:
“Schools need to focus on that social responsibility is just good business. Your reputation takes years to build, but it can be lost in a second due to one bad decision.”