One of the headline academic events of the autumn term came in the form of a two-day conference examining issues relating to business ethics.

Co-organized by ESSEC Business School and EIASM (European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management), the conference came under the title of "Opening the Black Box: Moral Foundation of Management Knowledge".

Instrumental in the organization of the event were Professors Radu Vranceanu (Director of the ESSEC Research Center) and Marie-Laure Djelic (Dean of the Faculty).

The self-declared aim of the various speeches, plenary sessions and workshops was to analyze the crisis of confidence through which both practitioners of management and producers of management knowledge are currently going.
This issue was assessed from four main angles:

• Values and Ethics in Management;
• Social Sciences;
• Knowledge and Governance;
• Human Resources, Leadership and Strategy.

The tone for the debate was set by President and Dean of ESSEC Business School Pierre Tapie's opening speech and then pursued by the keynote speaker, the eminent scholar Robert Solomon (Professor of Philosophy, Texas University). In an address titled "Recovering Adam Smith: from Economic Rationality to the Rationality of the Moral

Sentiments", Professor Solomon opened up for debate the notions of rationality and emotional intelligence in relation to the writings of Adam Smith, as well as the extent to which such theories can be applied to business corporations and the free enterprise system. Questions ensued that brought in the thinking of Aristotle and Charles Darwin. A further nine thematically-organized sessions over the remainder of the conference provided ample room for lively discussion.