Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chair of the board of Nestlé S.A., will deliver the keynote remarks at the fourth annual Thomas J. Bata Lecture Series on Responsible Capitalism in Prague, Czech Republic, on Tuesday, March 4.
The Lecture Series, presented in collaboration by the Schulich School of Business at York University and the Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic, is held at each of the schools in alternating years and is set to continue until 2018.
“The vision of Thomas J. Bata on responsible business and services has created the perfect framework for managers from all around the world to rethink the way we could create values not only for our shareholders, but for the whole society,” said Brabeck-Letmathe. “At Nestlé, we have developed and mastered the concept of ‘creating shared values’, whereby the people are the key to its successful implementation.”
Brabeck-Letmathe will deliver two keynote remarks as a part of the Lecture Series on Responsible Capitalism: People as the Key to Responsible Capitalism, a panel discussion at the Congress Centre of the Czech National Bank (the panel will be held in English and simultaneously interpreted into Czech) and Creating Shared Value: a Pragmatic Way for Responsible Capitalism, an evening lecture by invitation only which will be held at the Senate of the Czech Republic.
Nestlé is the world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company and Brabeck-Letmathe has served the organization as both CEO, from 1997 to 2008, and chair, since 2005. He also serves as vice-chair of L’Oréal and Credit Suisse Group; chair of the “2030 Water Resources Group”, a public private partnership housed in the IFC/World Bank, Washington; chair of the board of Nestlé Health Science S.A. and of Delta Topco Limited (Formula 1); and is a member of the Exxon Mobil Corporation Board.
A live webcast of the lecture will be broadcast online here and viewers are encouraged to join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtags #BataLRC2014 and #responsiblecapitalism.
The Thomas J. Bata Lecture Series on Responsible Capitalism was established by the Bata Shoe Foundation in honour of the late Thomas J. Bata, who built the Bata Shoe Organization into the world’s leading footwear retailer and manufacturer. Known as “Shoemaker to the World”, Mr. Bata promoted themes such as the benefits of entrepreneurialism, regional co-operation and responsible capitalism throughout his lifetime.
The Schulich School of Business has hosted the Bata Lecture twice in Toronto: last year with keynote speaker Paul Polman, chief executive officer of Unilever, one of the world’s largest consumer products companies, as well as the inaugural Lecture in 2010 which featured Ratan Tata, head of India’s largest business conglomerate.
In 2012, the event was held at Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic and featured a keynote presentation by Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, founder, Grameen Bank.