'How Does Management Foster the Common Good?' Leadership, Organisations, Behaviour and Reputation Research Seminar

Professor Rocha is devoted to identifying and realising the positive impact entrepreneurs, managers and policymakers have on the integral development of their organisations and communities where they implement their strategies. He has written more than 30 peer reviewed articles with relevant thinkers such as Sumantra Ghoshal, Lynda Gratton, Raymond Miles, David Audretsch, Roy Suddaby and Michael Pirson and his research won a merit prize from the European Union and the Emerald-Cladea Award for their contribution to social good.

Having gained his MA from the Universidad de Navarra, Spain, and his Executive MBA from the IAE Business School, he went onto earn his PhD from London Business School. His main sources of learning and contribution are the conversations with international leaders such as Jeffrey Sachs, Henry Mintzberg, Paul Polman (Unilever), Raj Sisodia (Conscious Capitalism) and Jay Coen Gilbert (B Corps).

He has delivered seminars in the United States, Latin America and Europe, including academic institutions such as London Business School, Stanford Business School (USA), the University of San Diego (USA), Warwick Business School, the University of Bath, Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa Business School, Universidad de Navarra (Spain), the International School of Management University of Management and Economics (Lithuania), Nyenrode Universitat (the Netherlands) and Leibniz Universität Hannover (Germany). He has also presented his works in international institutions such as the United Nations, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Strategic Management Society and the Academy of Management.

Professor Rocha advises companies, governments and NGOs at both national and international levels, facilitating directories and inter-organisational networks, developing business plans and corporate strategies and facilitating organisational and regional integral sustainable development.

The topic of this presentation is 'How Does Management Foster the Common Good?' The seminar will focus on how the emergence and detrimental effects of grand challenges, such as environmental degradation, income inequality and human dignity denial, have called into question the foundations of the capitalist system, the relevance of management research and the role of business schools in educating leaders for society.

This seminar will share the key insights of the European Group for Organizational Studies workshop on the Purpose of Business Organizations and the key talking points for the upcoming Academy of Management Paper Development Workshop to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, together with Professor Paul Adler (Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, USA), Professor Tom Donaldson (the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA), Professor Andrew Hoffman (Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, USA) and Professor Jim Walsh (Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, USA), and co-organised with Dr Remy Balarezo (the University of Piura, Peru). It aims to explore how management can foster the common good through research, teaching and impact.

The key points the seminar will address include the challenges in fostering the common good in management, research opportunities to advance the common good, strategies for impactful teaching and research and approaches to integrating the common good into management education and practice. Further discussion will cover how to come to a clear definition of management and the common good, analysing the relationship between management and the common good and how it varies based on experiences, examples from research, teaching and practice that relate management and the common good and shared research challenges and potential areas of collaboration for projects exploring the common good.

Attendees will gain insights into fostering the common good in management theory, education and practice. We will allow for a collaborative space to discuss options on how management can serve the interests of humanity and make business schools leaders in this historical moment of social change.

The seminar is for an internal audience and will be held on 24 July 2025, 12:30pm, in room LG01 of the Henley Business School building, Whiteknights campus. For those unable to attend in person there is also the option to dial in remotely via Microsoft Teams. If you are interested in joining, please contact Alex Baker on a.j.baker@henley.ac.uk

LOBR research seminars are co-ordinated by Professor Bernd Vogel and Dr Anastasiya Saraeva.