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Dean Woo in an Afghan seamstress' shop. tion and in reality. Now marking its tenth anniversary, the U.N. Global Compact has more than 8,000 busi- nesses and organizations worldwide as signatories, signaling their sup- port for more stringent human and labor rights standards, sustainable development, and adoption of anti- corruption practices. more than 500 million people out of extreme poverty since 1981—400 million people in China alone. As we look around the world, we can see that the major causes of social and political conflict are corruption, poverty, and social inequality. With that in mind, we can imagine the power of com- merce, conducted in the right way, to counteract these forces and bring about peace. We have seen countries such as Ireland, Cambodia, and Vietnam achieve peace and stability through economic growth. In contrast, I visited one African country where machine guns could be rented by the afternoon. These guns were routinely distributed to young teens to rain terror on targeted groups. It should come as no surprise that the unemployment rate there was 40 percent. Unless there are other ways for citizens to secure income in regions such as this, such vio- lence will persist. 2. Corporate social responsibility is no longer exogenous to business. Those with a traditional view of CSR efforts see them as outside of normal business operations. But that view has drastically changed over the last decade, both in percep- During the U.N. Global Com- pact Leaders Summit 2010, I served on a plenary panel where the management consultancy firm Accenture presented results from its landmark survey reporting on how CEOs worldwide view sus- tainability. These results were also presented by Peter Lacy, the author of the research, at a plenary session during the recent AACSB Deans' Conference in Phoenix. From 766 survey responses and 100 in-depth interviews, the company reported that 93 percent of the CEOs see broadly defined sustainability issues to be critical to their operations, while 96 percent believe that such issues should be fully integrated into their organizations' strategies and operations. In addition, 88 percent of leaders surveyed foresee this inte- gration extending to their suppliers. The major motivations for the changing attitudes cited by the study were "brand, trust, and reputation." Hence, as multinationals are increas- ingly proactive in adopting socially responsible practices throughout their systems, it may be just a mat- ter of time before there is greater accountability on these dimensions. 3. Business education must reframe the "winner takes all" mentality. Too often, analytical frameworks for business turn human endeavors into competitions that glorify "prof- it before all else." Such framing has led to a narrow agenda that focuses solely on wealth creation for own- ers and legitimizes the dismissal of issues outside the agenda and conse- quences we call "externalities." This point was driven home to me in my early years as dean, when I was counseled by a colleague from a renowned business school that the sole purpose of business educators is to increase the slope of the earn- ings curve of our students. Nothing more, nothing less. Even then, my instinct told me that this attitude is highly self-centered, resulting in a developmental journey that begins with the self and ends with the self. Without external references, the journey suffocates. Business at the Extremes May 2008, Addis Adaba, Ethiopia In the countryside, I visited what seemed like miles of green- houses owned by flower grow- ers from Europe. Such farms provide jobs in this desperately poor region and are supported with tax breaks from the local government. But there are sig- nificant drawbacks to these operations. These flower farms drain the river—the lifeblood for local families, as well as for their farms and cattle. Work- ers also use pesticides in poorly ventilated spaces, putting them at a higher risk for developing cancer. I love flower arranging, and back home I have enjoyed the bounty of roses available for as low as $15 for two dozen. But since that day, a rose is no longer just a rose to me. In sharp contrast, in an outly- ing village, I toured vegetable BizEd May/June 2011 43