The panel included Prof Mervyn King, Prof Robert Eccles of the Harvard Business School, Dr Reuel Khoza, Chairperson of Nedbank, and Mohamed Adam of the King Committee. They were inspired by the screening of a video containing an impressive interview series of leaders in the corporate sector as well as corporate journalists. This forms part of the ongoing corporate governance research programme headed up by the Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership and supported by Ernst & Young.

The panel was also interviewed by Bruce Whitfield, who brought up some interesting questions such as “What is the point of corporate governance in a failing state?” and “Will short-term capitalism continue to survive?”

It was a successful discussion and many attendees left with the sense that real work is going into shifting corporate South Africa into more sustainable, accountable practice.

On Tuesday, 5 September 2012 Prof Robert Eccles and another professor of the Harvard Business School, Prof George Serafeim were formally welcomed to the University of Pretoria. They visited the University as part of an ongoing research initiative in partnership with the Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership.

Prof Eccles and Prof Serafeim gave a fascinating lecture entitled “Innovating for Sustainability - the Performance Frontier”, during which they discussed the theory of the sustainable corporation and also highlighted that stakeholder engagement is key to fostering innovation. This lecture was attended by staff and students.