02 - Is EBBF a Bahá’í organisation?
04 - How are the activities of EBBF financed?
07 - What does EBBF do for students?
08 - What does EBBF do in Eastern and Central European countries?
09 - What do you do with the United Nations?
10 - Does EBBF collaborate with other organisations?
11 - Is there an EBBF branch in my country?
12 - How can one become a member of EBBF?
01 - What is EBBF?
The European Bahá’í Business Forum (EBBF) is a professional association of hundreds of women and men involved in business and management residing in over 60 countries throughout the world. EBBF is drawing increasing attention in Europe through its promotion of responsible and ethical business practices, its collaboration with other networks with similar values and with various United Nations agencies, and its active involvement with business schools and international student associations like AIESEC. EBBF began in 1990 as an informal network of men and women in business and management. In 1993, EBBF was registered in Paris, France as a non-profit association. Its membership is open to men and women of all faiths and all nationalities who have a legitimate interest in business and who recognize the importance of socially responsible and ethical practices in management. Members of EBBF have endorsed the following statement of vision and mission and core values: Vision: To enhance the well-being and prosperity of humankind. Mission: To promote ethical values, personal virtues, and moral leadership in business as well as in organisations of social change. Core Values: EBBF seeks to promote seven core values or principles:
- Business ethics
- Corporate social responsibility
- Sustainable development
- Partnership of women and men in all fields of endeavour.
- A new paradigm of work
- Consultation in decision-making
- Values-based leadership
It is important to understand that EBBF is not a Bahá’í institution. Rather it is a Bahá’í inspired organisation. It was founded by several Bahá’ís and many of its members are also members of the Bahá’í Faith. Further, its core values are inspired by the writings of the Bahá’í Faith. But these values are rapidly becoming universal values. EBBF has a number of non-Bahá’í members; it is registered in France as a non-profit association; and its members do not promote or seek to teach the Bahá’í Faith. 03 - Why does EBBF participate in many nongovernmental organisation forums on issues such as social and economic development, women, and environment?
Our mission is to promote our seven core values listed above. EBBF is keenly interested in the role of business in society and in social and economic development. A vital part of our mission is to encourage today’s and tomorrow’s leaders to become more responsible citizens and to contribute importantly to the debate about social and economic development. For this reason, EBBF was very active, for example, at the Copenhagen Summit on Social Development in 1995, Habitat II at Istanbul in 1997, and the Geneva 2000 Forum in June 2000. At these forums, we had a stand, gave out a great deal of literature, and offered six or seven workshops on subjects relating to the themes of the conferences. 04 - How are the activities of EBBF financed?
How are the activities of EBBF financed? The budget is covered largely by members' dues. In addition, some members make special contributions. Finally, some projects are financed externally. For example, EBBF organized a "Global Dialogue on Microfinance and Human Development" in connection with the UNESCO conference in Stockholm in 1998. We appealed to corporations for financial support and were able to cover the entire budget from these contributions and from a modest registration fee paid by participants. No financial assistance is provided by any Bahá’í institutions. 05 - I noticed you have CEOs and directors of corporations amongst your members. Do you offer resources for Entrepreneurs and SMEs
About half of our membership has a corporate background, the other half is made up of entrepreneurs and small business owners who have or wish to introduce responsible behaviours and values driven leadership in their enterprises. For this reason in our Knowledge Centre, amongst our Publications and at our Annual International Conferences, EBBF covers themes such as, for example, Responsible Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship. 06 - And what do you do for young professionals who face many dilemmas as they begin their new careers?
We have a number of members who are young professionals. Our Young Professionals Task Force surveys and attempts to respond to their concerns. They also organize part of the programme at our annual conferences and benefit from intergenerational consultation on their problems. 07 - What does EBBF do for students?
A large share of our resources (time and money) is committed to promoting our core values with students of business and economics. We find them receptive to values and ideas such as business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and sustainable development. We have a major commitment to AIESEC International, with whom we have a partnership. We are among their external advisors and we provide speakers for many of their international, regional, national and local activities. Some of our members contribute free consulting services to help strengthen their internal organisation and processes. And we promote AIESEC whenever we can. Other activities include speaking or leading workshops at business schools like INSEAD and organizing conferences on Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility on campuses. For example, we organized and led full day programmes on these topics at business schools in Italy and in Russia. 08 - What does EBBF do in Eastern and Central European countries?
From the very beginning our members have insisted that a priority be given to sharing best management practices and principles consistent with our core values in countries with economies in transition. Beginning in 1992 we carried out projects in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Slovenia. In each case the projects were different. For example, in Albania we wrote a series of seven articles on "Entrepreneurship" which were published in both the Albanian and English editions of the Albanian Economic Tribune. We also organized a conference there that was well attended and covered by the media. In Bulgaria, during each of the past ten years we have organized an International Conference on Moral Values and Ethics in a Social Market Economy. These are organized in collaboration with several local NGO’s but EBBF takes the leadership is this effort. In Moscow, five of our members gave more than thirty presentations and speeches for students in various business schools, several professional groups, and some NGO’s during a ten day visit. More recently, we planned and participated in a two day conference on Business Ethics and Value Based Management. 09 - What do you do with the United Nations?
Several of our members participate in various local efforts to support the UN. As a network, we have collaborated recently with both UNESCO and the International Labour Office in Geneva. The ILO for example has just published a lengthy (120 pages) document entitled, Socially Responsible Enterprise Restructuring: A Joint Working Paper of the ILO and EBBF. EBBF directed this project and wrote most of the final document. Also we have contributed to several UNESCO conferences on Higher Education both as panel members and by writing a chapter on "Educating Tomorrow's Managers: Bringing Values into the Workplace" for a book they published, Graduates: Profiles and Prospects in a Changing Society. 10 - Does EBBF collaborate with other organisations?
Yes, even though our resources, both financial and human, are limited, we collaborate in various ways with other associations, networks, and organisations. Some examples have already been described such as AIESEC, UNESCO and the ILO. We also support efforts of other networks such as the Cercle d’Ethique des Affaires (France), the Corporate Citizenship Unit at the Warwick Business School (UK), the European Business Ethics Network (Netherlands). CSR Europe (Belgium), and the International Business Leaders Forum (UK). 11 - Is there an EBBF branch in my country?
EBBF has members residing in over 50 countries. There are organized activities of EBBF in several of them. A list of EBBF contacts in various countries can be found here. 12 - How can one become a member of EBBF?
There are several criteria which the Governing Board uses in reviewing applications for membership. The first of these is having a legitimate interest in business, meaning that you are in business, occupy a position of some responsibility or are a student of business or economics. Second, one must pay annual dues normally equivalent to 120 euros. Special rates are available for students and members in developing countries or countries in transition. Finally one needs a sponsor or proposer, normally a current member. Then the application is submitted to the Governing Board for final approval. Find out the benefits of membership and the application form here.
