World Economic Forum 2015 – Davos.

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland is underway.

I thought you might want to hear what Sheikh Hamza Yusuf and other Religious leaders have to say.

Religion: A Pretext for Conflict? – Davos 2015 with Hamza Yusuf

The World Economic Forum was founded in January 1971 when a group of European business leaders met under the patronage of the European Commission and European industrial associations. German-born Klaus Schwab, then Professor of Business Policy at the University of Geneva, chaired the gathering, which took place in Davos, Switzerland. The organization was subsequently incorporated as a not-for-profit Foundation.

Professor Schwab’s inspiration for creating the Foundation was his book –Moderne Unternehmensführung im Maschinenbau – in which the stakeholder principle was first defined. This concept states that the management of an enterprise is not only accountable to its shareholders but must also serve the interests of all stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers and, more broadly, government, civil society and any others who may be affected or concerned by its operations.

The Forum was called the European Management Forum until 1987, when it was renamed the World Economic Forum to reflect its expanding scope and transformation from a European to truly global organization.

From the beginning, the Forum had considerable impact in improving political, economic and social awareness, acting as a catalyst for major bridge-building efforts. The Forum has provided a critical platform for furthering peace and reconciliation in many parts of the world, promoting understanding between East and West before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, introducing emerging economies such as China and India to the international community, and bringing to the fore the latest trends and developments in many fields.

The Forum has also been the catalyst for a number of significant global initiatives, such as the Global Compact (developed jointly with the UN); the GAVI Alliance (initially the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization); the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the expansion of the OECD; and the development of the G20 concept.

Over the last 20 years, the Forum has also evolved the stakeholder principle beyond the corporate level to a truly global sphere, stipulating that political, business and civil society leaders must work together to address the challenges of a globally interconnected world. This enhanced dimension has led to the notion of corporate global citizenship, as outlined by Professor Schwab in a Foreign Affairs article published in 2008.

What has remained unchanged since its founding is the Forum’s dedication to collaboration among stakeholders, its steadfast adherence to the high-level participation of leaders sharing the Forum’s commitment to improving the state of the world, and the Forum’s trust in the power of dialogue and exchange based on mutual respect and civility to bridge divides and shape effective solutions to global challenges. The World Economic Forum has evolved from a modest yet ground-breaking attempt to convene European corporate stakeholders to discuss business strategies into an organization that today is widely regarded as the world’s foremost multistakeholder platform for public-private partnership.

Scroll to Top