The Tuck School of Business held its sixth annual Business and Society Conference to increase understanding about environmentally sound and socially responsible business practices Jan. 17-18. The student-run conference, "Oil and Water: Business Opportunities to Fuel Our Future," discussed the role of the two controversial commodities in today's marketplace.
"The entire purpose is to think differently and address issues that revolve around the triple bottom line," Dave Adams Tu'08, the chair of the conference, said. The triple bottom line in business combines the traditional bottom line -- earnings and profits -- with sustainability and social awareness.
Organizers chose oil and water as this year's theme because both commodities garner large profits and have significant ramifications for social welfare and conservation.
"We wanted something that was broad in scope and timely," Adams said. "We wanted a topic that students from all walks of life would be interested in."
The event featured a keynote addresses from Matthew R. Simmons, the chairman of Simmons & Company International, an investment bank that specializes in the energy industry, as well as a closing address from John Brock, the president and chief executive officer of Coca-Cola Enterprises.
The conference also consisted of three discussions that focused on oil and three discussions that focused on water. One of the discussion proposed that water could eventually replace oil as the primary driver of foreign policy and cause of war.
The other water panels discussed issues surrounding the availability of water in the developing world and water management in sustainable real estate. Topics for the discussions on oil included climate change and financial risk, clean technological investing and whether consumers actually care about being green.
The event also featured locally sourced meals, organic coffee breaks and a sustainable social function in Collis Commonground on Saturday night.
The conference is organized by Tuck students for Tuck students, Adams said. The students solicit companies, including Waste Management, Camelbak and Microsoft, to sponsor the event.
"All of the sponsors believe that we can do well while doing good," Adams said.
Organizers redeveloped the event this year to focus more on Tuck students instead of members of the larger business community. They also sought to highlight the triple bottom line more than they had previously.
"We re-branded to target issues that are at the intersection of business and society," Adams said. "We're all here to make money, but doing so while benefiting the greater good."
