About CBE
CBE is a nonprofit education, research and thought-leadership organization, focused on business ethics and corporate responsibility. Based at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., it is one of a number of innovative campus-based centers and initiatives that comprise the Bentley Alliance for Ethics and Social Responsibility.
Founded in 1976 by W. Michael Hoffman, PhD, (who remains its Executive Director), CBE is credited with being a major influence in the development and success of the business ethics movement, both in the United States and around the world.
CBE’s suite of offices and impressive library are located within Bentley's Adamian Academic Center (AAC 108).
Education
GRADUATE EDUCATION
CBE leads Bentley’s efforts to integrate business ethics and corporate responsibility into the graduate and undergraduate curricula. These efforts resulted in Bentley offering:
- The nation’s first MBA concentration in business ethics in 1995.
- The first Graduate Certificate in Business Ethics in the same year.
EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
CBE offers a five-day executive development course in partnership with the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association. Introduced in 1995, Managing Ethics in Organizations was the first course in the world to provide ethics and compliance practictioners with a professional credential as well as the practical knowledge and tools to manage an organization's efforts to ensure business integrity.
FACULTY EDUCATION
Business ethics touches every aspect of business and the world of work for which Bentley students are being prepared. Recognizing this, since 1991, CBE has been helping faculty, across the academic spectrum, to integrate business ethics into their classes. The week-long Business Ethics Teaching Workshop brings together around 20 different professors each year, drawn from various academic disciplines, to learn about and share innovative teaching methods and class discussion tools. Since 2004, with support from State Street Corporation, the Business Ethics Teaching Workshop has been open to professors from universities all over the world.
Thought Leadership
RESEARCH
CBE is a leading research institute in the areas of business ethics and corporate responsibility. CBE not only conducts its own research projects but also collaborates with partner organizations in order to advance knowledge and best practices. Research results are published in leading journals and practitioner publications and are also disseminated by means of this web site.
RAYTHEON BUSINESS ETHICS LECTURE SERIES
Since 1998, CBE has brought CEOs of leading global companies to the Bentley campus for a prestigious lecture series that has done much to energize the business ethics discourse in boardrooms and classrooms alike. Corporate leaders as prominent as Ralph Larsen (Johnson & Johnson), Anne Mulcahy (Xerox) and Michael Eskew (UPS) have shared their insight into creating and sustaining business cultures built on integrity.
Originally supported for five years by Sears, Roebuck and Co., Raytheon Company has been the series sponsor since 2003.
VERIZON VISITING PROFESSORSHIP IN BUSINESS ETHICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
For one week each year, usually in February or March, CBE brings to Bentley a leading academic from another institution of higher learning or a thought leader from the business world. This program is made possible through the generous support of Verizon Communications, which has been the sponsor since the program's inception in 1999.
The Verizon Visiting Professor delivers a public lecture dealing with issues at the intersection of business ethics and information technology. Throughout the week of the Visiting Professor’s stay, he or she typically visits five to six undergraduate or graduate classes to lead a discussion on topics arising from the public lecture. In addition, the Visiting Professor facilitates a workshop for Bentley faculty.
CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIA
In 1977, CBE sponsored the first national conference on business ethics. Since then, it has hosted nine more national conferences and has partnered with the Bentley Alliance for Ethics and Social Responsibiity in hosting several global business ethics symposia.
Knowledge-Sharing/Network
EXECUTIVE FELLOWS
The Ernest A. Kallman Executive Fellows Program enables CBE to engage the talents and experience of a select group of distinguished business and thought leaders in furthering the business ethics movement.
CBE regularly hosts visiting scholars from around the world, who wish to use our library and other resources to advance their academic and professional careers and to contribute to the business ethics movement.
Past scholars have been PhD candidates, post-doctoral students, professors and executives who have visited for periods ranging from a few days to more than a year. CBE’s Visiting Scholars have come from numerous countries including:
| Australia | Japan |
| Brazil | Mexico |
| Bulgaria | Russia |
| China | South Africa |
| Denmark | Spain |
| France | Sweden |
| England | Italy |
| Ecuador |
For a listing of past and present CBE Visiting Scholars please visit our Visiting Scholars Page
If you have an interest in being considered as a CBE Visiting Scholar, please e-mail Mary Chiasson.
