Klaus M. Leisinger

Klaus M. Leisinger (* born 1947 in Lörrach) is a social scientist and economist. He is President and CEO of the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development (Basel, Switzerland).

Contents 1 Biography 2 Specialist areas/fields of research 3 Works/publications 4 References 5 External links

Biography

Klaus M. Leisinger was born in Lörrach in 1947. He studied Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Basel (Switzerland), earned his doctorate in Economics and did his post-doc (habilitated) in Sociology, on “Health Policy for the Least Developed Countries”.

Since 1996 Leisinger has been President and CEO of the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, which is funded by the pharmaceutical company Novartis. Through its think-tank work, dialog and networking activities as well as practical project and program work in the field of development cooperation, the foundation is considered a unique institution in the private sector and has consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC).

Leisinger spent several years as Managing Director of CIBA’s former regional pharmaceutical office in Eastern Africa. After returning to Switzerland, he managed the company’s international relations division. In 1979, the “CIBA-GEIGY Foundation for Cooperation with Developing Countries” was set up under his guidance. Following CIBA's merger with Sandoz in 1996, it became what is now the “Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development”.

In addition to his position at Novartis, Klaus Leisinger is also professor of Sociology at the University of Basel. His teaching areas include international development policy, corporate ethics and globalization, social responsibility for pharmaceutical companies, and human rights and multinational corporations. He also serves as an invited lecturer or guest professor at various universities in Europe and the US, for example the University of Notre Dame, the MIT Sloan School of Management (Cambridge) and the Harvard University. He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 2004 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Theology by the University of Fribourg (Switzerland).^[1]

He has held numerous advisory positions in organizations such as the UN Global Compact, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the Asian Development Bank and the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA). In addition, he is president of the Board of Trustees of the German Network of Business Ethics, a member of the advisory council of Mary Robinson's Ethical Globalization Initiative (EGI) and a member of the Board of the United Nations Association of Germany (DGNV). Until December 2006 he worked for Kofi Annan as the Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General for the UN Global Compact.^[2] Since 2010 he has also served as a Commissioner for the Broadband Commission for Digital Development which leverages broadband technologies as a key enabler for social and economic development^[3].

Specialist areas/fields of research

He pursues his academic research and practical field work in the areas of social responsibility of companies in developing countries, corporate ethics, international development cooperations and the provision of medicines for those living in poverty. His recent work has focused on the sustainable implementation of the UN Global Compact in the world of business and the special subject of “Human Rights and Business”.

Works/publications

Klaus M. Leisinger has written and published numerous publications in several languages. His recent works include:

• Unternehmensethik. Globale Verantwortung und Modernes Management, C.H. Beck, München 1997, ISBN 3-406-42289-6; also published in Brazil as Etica Empresarial. Responsabilidade global a gerenciamento moderno, Editora Vozes, Petropolis 2001 (co-author Karin M. Schmitt).
• Die Sechste Milliarde. Weltbevölkerungswachstum und Nachhaltige Entwicklung. With a foreword of the former executive director of UNFPA, Dr. Nafis Sadik, C.H. Beck, München 1999, ISBN 3-406-42140-7.
• Six Billion and Counting: Population Growth and Food Security in the 21st century. In: Johns Hopkins University Press / IFPRI, Baltimore / Washington D.C 2002; also published in Chinese, 3rd edition, Beijing, 2003 (co-authors: Karin Schmitt and Rajul Pandya-Lorch).
• Corporate Ethics in a Time of Globalization (co-author and publisher Karin M. Schmitt) Sarvodaya Vishca Lekha Publishers, Colombo 2003, ISBN 955-599-327-X.
• Whistleblowing and Corporate Reputation Management, Rainer Hampp Verlag (sfwu, Schriftenreihe für Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensethik), München und Mering 2003, ISBN 3-87988-731-4.
• Ethik im Management (published with Hans Ruh), Orell Füssli, Zürich 2004, ISBN 3-280-05104-5.
• Holzwege für den aufrechten Gang. Christliche Werte als Handlungsorientierung für unternehmerische Entscheidungen. In: Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie, Academic Press Fribourg, volume 52, edition 3 (2005), p. 628-679.
• Capitalism with a Human Face. The UN Global Compact. In: The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 28th edition (2007), p. 113-132.
• Corporate philanthropy: The "top of the pyramid". In: Business and Society Review, volume 112, 3rd edition (2007), p. 315-342.
• Zur Relevanz der Unternehmensethik in der Betriebswirtschaftslehre. In: Schmalenbachs Zeitschrift für betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung, special edition 58 / 8 October 2008, p. 26-49.
• Corporate Responsibilities for Access to Medicines. In: Journal of Business Ethics, volume 85, 1st edition (2009), p. 3ff.
• On Corporate Responsibility for Human Rights. In: Spitzeck H. /Pirson M. / Amann W. / Khan S. / Kimakowitz E.v. (EDS.): Humanism in Business, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009, p. 175-203.
• The Role of Corporations in Shaping Globalization with a Human Face. In: Straus J. (Ed.): The Role of Law and Ethics in the Globalized Economy, Springer, Heidelberg 2009, p. 27-48.
• Manifest Globales Wirtschaftsethos. Konsequenzen und Herausforderungen für die Weltwirtschaft. Manifesto Global Economic Ethic. Consequences and Challenges for Global Businesses. München: dtv 2010, together with Küng, H., Wieland, J.. ISBN 978-3-423-34628-3

References

1. ^ Homepage Novarits Foundation: Prof. Dr. Klaus M. Leisinger
2. ^ Homepage Ethikverband der Deutschen Wirtschaft e.V.: UN Global Compact
3. ^ http://www.broadbandcommission.org/commissioners.html

External links

• Klaus M. Leisinger on the website ot the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development
• Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development
• UN Global Compact
• Manifesto Global Economic Ethic
• Global economic ethic
• Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
• Millenium Projekt
• REPSSI
• Business & Human Rights

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Name	Leisinger, Klaus M.
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Date of birth	1947
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