"Strengthening the motivation of care and moral commitment in economic life and thinking, in order to create wealth and jobs, correct economic and environmental imbalance, and tackle the root causes of poverty."

Over the last number of years, the Swiss mountain village has been the site of the Caux Conference for Business and Industry. It affirms the fundamental importance of the highest values in business, and helps each one find their relevant next step in applying them. By bringing people togehter from all over the world who are engaged in this search, it makes available the encouragement of their experience and their skill, insights and informatrion they have to offer. One of the Forums of the CCBI is the Junior Round Table.

14 case studies of best practice in business and industry:

'Something further is needed if industry is to fulfil it role, not just as the great provider of goods, services and jobs but also in building a more just world order. A moral and spiritual dynamic, reflected in the lives of business people is required, which touches inner motivation and gives vision, wisdom and insight into people and situations.

'The stories in this book go some way towards illustrating this inner dynamic, including the appeal to conscience. They tell of business people's concern for the environment, unemployment, industrial partnership, poverty and social justice. They show that, in an era of globalization, the individual can be a powerful agent for positive social change.'

Michael Smith's book 'Beyond the Bottom Line' is bringing this together.

By developing a network of people who can support each other, initiatives in the context of the workplace of the persons concerned have been facilitated. Some initiatives have become higher profile, such as these below:

Caux Round Table

In 1986 Frederik Philips, former President of the Dutch electronics multinational, and Olivier Giscard d’Estaing, Vice-President of the INSEAD business school, were concerned about the growing trade tension between industrialised nations. They invited to Caux some 30 senior businessmen from Europe, the USA and Japan. This first meeting, to which each one was invited in a personal capacity, turned into a regular six-monthly event - in summer at Caux, elsewhere at other times of the year, including Japan, the USA, India and southern China. The group became known as the Caux Round Table (CRT).

In 1994, the CRT published a statement entitled Principles for Business. The publication, 130,000 copies of which have been circulated, urges company directors to go beyond the letter of the law in efforts to build confidence through ‘honesty and transparency’. ‘We affirm,’ the authors state, ‘the necessity for moral values in business decision making. Without them, stable business relationships and a sustainable world community are impossible.’

UK participant Neville Cooper, Chairman of the Institute of Business Ethics, comments: ‘The CRT also proposes that business goes beyond merely operating ethically, important as that is, and accepts its responsibility "in reducing social and economic threats to world peace and stability". The CRT commits itself to "energising the role of business and industry as a vital force for innovative global change".’

The Financial Times, in its report of the publication’s launch, said ‘it is thought to be the first time a document of this kind has attracted influential supporters from Europe, Japan and the US.’

Website: www.cauxroundtable.org

International Communications Forum

Nine hundred professionals in the media and arts, from 53 countries, have taken part since 1991 in one or other of the events arranged by the International Communications Forum. This is an initiative of the British publisher William Porter and aims to look at the balance between freedom and responsibility in every sector of communications. The Forum is dedicated to freedom of expression and information, together with responsibility and respect. It encourages participants to ‘promote the essential values underlying democracy - honesty, service, a search for truth and the importance of conscience’. Those involved in the Forum have tried to apply these values in their personal and professional lives. The objective is to outline basic values required by the media for the 21st century.

Following their first meeting in Caux in 1991, the Forum has held a series of conferences in France, the USA, Russia, Canada and Poland, as well as a large number of working sessions.

Website: www.icforum.org