Council on Business & Society || ESSEC

The Council on Business & Society (CoBS), visionary in its conception and mission, was founded in 2011 by ESSEC Business School. The CoBS is dedicated to promoting responsible leadership and tackling issues at the crossroads of business and society, including CSR, sustainability, ESG, diversity, ethical leadership, and the role responsible business has to play in contributing to the common good.

The CoBS firmly believes that today’s challenges cannot be met by one country alone, and aims to tackle the world’s major issues in responsible leadership and business practices by offering a unique global, yet regional perspective through its member schools on 6 continents.

The Council effectively contributes to the “internationalization”, “ethics and social responsibility” and “corporate relations” chapters for accreditations. It has a global voice, with an annual organic digital footprint in 2025 of 2.5 million and was ranked the 6th largest CSR influencer on Twitter in 2020 by the Social Media Research Foundation.

The CoBS alliance has 12 member schools – leading regional and international institutions present on 6 continents and in 16 countries. Together, they count 23 campuses, 50,000 students, and over 500,000 alumni.

Member institutions

ESSEC Business School, France, Singapore, Morocco
FGV-EAESP, Brazil
School of Management Fudan University, China
IE Business School, Spain
IIM Bangalore, India
Keio Business School, Japan
Monash Business School, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia
WashU Olin Business School, USA
Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, Canada
Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa
Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Warwick Business School, United Kingdom

The CoBS is a member of and/or has partnerships with UN PRME, GBSN, GRLI, the OECD, and the Routledge-Taylor & Francis Group.

The CoBS is active in three major areas:

Research & Publications: Weekly research-based insights on CSR, ESG, and sustainability; a quarterly magazine Global Voice, special issue thematic magazines in partnership with Harvard Business School BiGS, and the Routledge-CoBS Focus on Responsible Business book series.
Pedagogy: Condensed learning capsules, research digests, and the CoBS International Advanced Certificate in Responsible Business Practices.
Events: Quarterly CoBS Global Alumni Meet Ups around a sustainability theme, a monthly Green Jobs Board, thematic personal development workshops at the Academy of Management Conference, online masterclasses, and annual CoBS faculty workshops.

For more information, visit the CoBS website

For thought leadership, see CoBS Insights