This symposium explores key questions in teaching ethics to business leaders: What do students need to understand about individual decision-making, organizational design, and societal institutions to be able to engage productively with ethical issues and do the right thing?
In-person attendance is by invitation only. Guests can register to view the livestream on Zoom.Â
David M. Kreps Symposium
A series of symposia on topics of broad interest to the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business created through the generous support of friends and alumni of Stanford GSB, to honor the career of Professor Kreps.
Date
Friday, April 25, 2025
Companies and their leaders continually grapple with ethical questions on which there is profound disagreement. Sometimes, these disagreements are driven by people’s self-interest and self-serving worldviews; but often they are based instead on legitimate differences between the principles and values sincerely held by business leaders who aspire to be ethical themselves, to design organizations in which others behave ethically, and to build companies that have a positive impact on the world.
For business educators, the challenge is how best to train such leaders to help them achieve these goals. This symposium draws on key insights from philosophy, psychology, and political economy to consider the following questions:
- At an individual level, what is the right thing to do, especially in situations where people have profound ethical disagreements? How can business leaders clarify their values and thinking about the right course of conduct? Â
- At an organizational level, how do individual and contextual factors shape people’s ethical (and unethical) behavior? And how can organizations be designed to help people live up to their values?
- At a societal level, what responsibilities do companies have, whether in setting their own company policies, influencing public policy, or building and supporting institutions for governance?
- At the university level, what are the best practices to productively engage students with all of these questions, and ensure future business leaders leave with the tools they need to address them?
For insight into these questions, the symposium will feature talks by three leading thinkers: Rebecca Henderson, Adam Galinsky, and Kwame Anthony Appiah.
Agenda
Friday, April 25, 2025
All time in Pacific Time
| 12:00pm – 1:00pm | Registration Opens & Check-In |
| 1:00pm – 1:05pm | Welcome Remarks Peter DeMarzo, Stanford GSB Interim Dean |
| 1:05pm – 1:55pm | Session 1 - Ethics in a World on Fire: Exploring the Private Sector’s Response to Climate Change Rebecca Henderson, John and Natty McArthur University Professor, Harvard Business School |
| 1:55pm – 2:10pm | Break |
| 2:10pm – 3:00pm | Session 2 - Inspiring Ethics: Designing More Moral Leaders Adam Galinsky, Paul Calello Professor of Leadership and Ethics, Columbia Business School |
| 3:00pm – 3:20pm | Break |
| 3:20pm – 4:10pm | Session 3 - How to Teach Ethics to Ordinary People Kwame Anthony Appiah, Professor of Philosophy and Law, New York University |
| 4:10pm – 4:30pm | Break |
| 4:30pm – 5:20pm | Session 4 - Panel Discussion Panelists Kwame Anthony Appiah, Adam Galinsky, Rebecca Henderson |
| 5:20pm – 5:30pm | Closing Remarks |
| 5:30pm – 7:30pm | Reception and Dinner - Invite Only |
Registration
In-person attendance is by invitation only. Please register below to attend virtually and receive the link to the livestream.
Livestream and Recording
The conference will be livestreamed and recorded. After the symposium, we will publish a recording on this webpage when available.
Featured Speakers
Rebecca M. Henderson
Adam D. Galinsky
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Faculty Organizers
Neil Malhotra
Benoît Monin
